Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Lord Is My Portion: A Life Anchored in God’s Word (Psalm 119:57–64) | Charles Spurgeon

Transcript

The Lord Is My Portion: A Life Anchored in God’s Word (Psalm 119:57–64) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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You know, usually when you go into a clinic and sit down to
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talk about a medical diagnosis, there is this underlying
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expectation of absolute precision.
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Right, you expect clear answers. Yeah, like you fall off a
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ladder, you break your arm and you go get an X-ray.
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The Doctor calls you into the room, pulls up the film on that
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bright light box and shows you that jagged white line cutting
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across the dark background. And the doctor just points at
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the film and says there it is. That is the fracture.
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Spot on. It is a completely binary
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situation. Your arm is either broken or it
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is not broken. The whole process is clean,
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visible and easily categorized. You can walk out of that clinic
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knowing precisely what is wrong and what needs to happen next.
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Well, precisely. And you know that physical
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visibility brings a tremendous amount of psychological comfort
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to us. We naturally prefer situations
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where we can look at the physical evidence with our own
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eyes. Oh, absolutely.
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We like hard data. We want the empirical proof
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right in front of us because it'll.
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But then you step out of the physical clinic and step into
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the realm of the human soul. You step into the world of
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spiritual diagnostics. And suddenly that pristine X-ray
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machine is shattered into 1000 pieces.
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Yeah, it really is. We are looking at a diagnostic
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landscape that is honestly quite murky.
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When you ask yourself the question in the quiet of your
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own mind, Am I truly a Christian?
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Has my heart actually been changed?
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You are dealing with the absolute definition of Muddy
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Waters there. You really are.
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You cannot just put your soul through a scanner and look for a
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bright white line of faith. So welcome to Reformed Thinking,
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a deep dive into the source material that helps us clear up
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those Muddy Waters. I am very excited for this one.
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Me too. Today we are opening up Charles
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Spurgeon's massive, sweeping commentary on the Psalms, which
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he called the Treasury of David. Such an incredible work.
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It really is. We are looking specifically at
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his treatment of Psalm 119, verses 57 through 64.
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For those who study the structure of the Psalms, this is
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the section corresponding to the Hebrew letter.
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Cheth and our mission today is to unpack the marks of a
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regenerate heart. Yes.
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We want to look at how a true believer relates to God's law,
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how they face external persecution, and how they
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practice real, substantive, agonizing repentance.
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To set the theological framing for our discussion today, it is
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highly beneficial to look at the work of the Scottish Puritan
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Minister David Dixon. Spurgeon includes Dixon's
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outline directly in the text we are examining, right?
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Dixon points out that these eight specific verses present 8
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distinct properties of a sound, genuine believer.
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Now, speaking from our Reformed perspective and holding to the
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doctrines articulated in the Westminster Confession of Faith,
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we must be incredibly clear right from the opening bell.
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Yes, we have to clarify this. These eight properties, these
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distinct marks of a Christian that we are going to examine,
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are not works that a person performs to somehow earn their
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salvation. Dead men cannot earn anything,
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and Scripture is clear that by nature we are spiritually dead
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in our trespasses. So these marks are the
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inevitable gracious fruits of a heart that has already been
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effectually called and regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
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Spot on. Effectual calling is that
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irresistible work of God where he brings a person from
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spiritual death to spiritual life, making him willing and
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able to believe. So as we look at these 8 verses,
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we are looking at the evidence of spiritual life, not the root
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cause of it. We are looking for a pulse that
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proves God has already breathed life into the soul.
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That distinction is so critical for you, the listener, to grasp
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right away. In a world full of theological
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confusion, where shallow teaching abounds on every
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corner, how do you verify the state of your own soul?
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You cannot rely on a fleeting emotional high you had at a
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summer youth camp 10 years ago. No, you cannot.
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You cannot rely on the fact that your grandparents went to church
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either. This deep dive into the source
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material will provide a clear scriptural standard for self
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examination, letting the text itself act as the diagnostic
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tool. So let us look at the opening
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statement in verse 57. The text reads, Thou art my
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portion. O Lord, I have said that I would
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keep thy words. Right out of the gate.
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We see David claiming Jehovah as his personal portion and making
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a firm resolution to keep his words.
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What stands out when looking at the commentaries on the grammar
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of the original Hebrew is how abrupt it is.
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The sentence is a broken exclamation.
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Right, yes, it literally translates to something more
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like my portion. Oh Lord, it shows a man who is
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completely overwhelmed by a sudden massive realization.
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The analogy that springs to my mind is a chaotic post battle
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scene in the ancient world. Picture an army that has just
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conquered a massive city. That is a great visual.
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The soldiers are gathering in the center square, dividing the
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spoils of war. There are literal mountains of
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silver, fine garments, weapons, jewels and land deeds being
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handed out. Men are fighting over the
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scraps. And here is David, the anointed
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King, a man who could claim any physical prize he wants.
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Exactly. He walks right past the towering
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piles of gold, he completely ignores the captured land, he
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bypasses the fine garments, and he just points up to the Creator
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of the universe as his soul Exclusive prize.
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That image captures the raw emotion of the verse perfectly.
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And you know, to understand the heavy theology behind that
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spontaneous exclamation, we have to look again at David Dixons
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commentary on this passage. Oh, right, about unconditional
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election. Yes, Dixon clarifies A vital
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Reformed doctrine here. He says no man chooses God until
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God has first chosen and renewed him.
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Because, as we established a moment ago, by nature we are
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completely dead in sin. Right.
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A spiritual corpse does not reach out to claim a portion of
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anything, let alone claim the holy God of the universe.
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When David cries out my portion, O Lord, we are seeing the
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doctrine of unconditional election made visible in real
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time through a human response. Unconditional election means God
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chose His people before the foundation of the world, based
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entirely on His own sovereign mercy, not on any foreseen good
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in them. So the fact that David possesses
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a burning desire for God above all earthly treasure is the
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undeniable, objective proof that God's grace has already operated
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on his heart. His cry is simply the earthly
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echo of God's eternal sovereign choice.
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It is the newborn baby taking its first breath and crying out.
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The cry does not create the life, it proves the life is
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there. I really appreciate how the
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Puritan writers take these lofty predestinarian theological
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concepts and bring them right down to the muddy battlefield of
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daily temptation. Oh, totally.
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The text references Thomas Brooks, an English Puritan
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preacher from the 1600s, and his counsel on this verse is just
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brilliant. Brooks lived through plague,
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fire, and political upheaval, so he understood human frailty.
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He says that whenever Satan or the world tempts you, your
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automatic immediate reply should be The Lord is my portion.
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You see, Satan is constantly setting up a marketplace in our
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minds offering us alternative portions.
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Brooks uses vivid historical examples to illustrate this.
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He says If Satan comes to you holding out an apple, as he did
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to Eve in the garden, trying to sell you on the idea that this
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forbidden fruit will make you fulfilled, you say the Lord is
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my portion. Wow.
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If the enemy comes to you with a gleaming wedge of gold, as he
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did to each hand after the battle of Jericho, promising you
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financial security if you just compromise your integrity, your
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defense is the same. The Lord is my portion.
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And if he comes to you with a heavy bag of silver pieces, as
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he did to Judas Iscariot, you give the precise same reply.
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Recognizing God's all sufficiency completely
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neutralizes worldly desires. Why would I want a Chan's cursed
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gold when I already possessed the Creator who spoke the gold
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into existence? That is the crux of the matter.
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It renders the temptations of the world utterly bankrupt.
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Thomas Brooks understood human psychology so well he knew that
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sin never just presents itself as a bad idea.
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Sin always offers a competing satisfaction.
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Sin is a salesman, it says. Take this forbidden thing and
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you will finally be happy. You will finally be secure.
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But when a believer has truly grasped the reality that the
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infinite Self, existent, sovereign God of the universe is
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their own personal possession, those worldly offers look
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ridiculous. OK, let us pause and unpack the
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second-half of that verse, because I have some serious
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pushback here representing the skeptical listener.
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I'm ready. Let us hear it.
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David cries out, Thou art my portion, O Lord, which is this
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beautiful, transcendent, almost mystical realization of
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possessing God. But then he takes a breath and
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immediately adds, I have said that I would keep thy words.
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Why add that if having God is enough?
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If God is the Supreme, all satisfying possession, why bring
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the law, the rules, and the strict commandments right back
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into the picture? It feels like getting a
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multimillion dollar inheritance and then being told you still
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have to scrub the floors. Yes.
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Doesn't that drag this soaring, joyful spiritual realization
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right back down into the dirt of daily burdensome duty?
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It is a very natural objection, and it highlights a common
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misunderstanding of grace and law.
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William Cowper provides the resolution to this tension in
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the text. What does he say?
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Claiming the creator of the universe as your personal
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portion is a massive of audacious statement, and such a
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massive claim requires substantial proof.
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Plenty of people walking the streets today will casually say
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that God is their portion. Exactly.
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Well, yes, but Cowper asks the piercing question of how they
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actually prove it. The logic flows like an unbroken
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chain. Let us walk through the chain.
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If God is truly your portion, you will genuinely love Him.
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If you genuinely love him, you will naturally love the things
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He says, which is His word. And if you love His word, you
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will strive to obey it and make it the ruling principle of your
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entire life. Assurance of salvation fuels
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holiness. It does not negate the need for
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obedience. It provides the burning engine
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for it. Obedience is no longer a ladder
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you climb trying to reach God. It is the joyful response of a
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heart that God has already rescued.
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That reframing changes everything.
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The obedience validates the claim.
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It is the receipt proving you actually bought the item.
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Yes, that is a great way to put it.
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Now looking at the very next breath David takes, we see
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something jarring. Verse 58 says, I entreated thy
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favor with my whole heart. Be merciful unto me, according
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to thy word. I am noticing A staggering
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emotional whiplash between this verse and the one we just spent
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all that time discussing. Think about it.
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In verse 57, David is bold. He's standing tall, pointing to
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the heavens and confidently claiming God is his property,
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his portion. He sounds like a victorious
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conqueror. But now, in verse 58, his
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posture completely collapses. He is suddenly begging for mercy
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like a desperate peasant who has nothing.
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How do? These two realities coexist in a
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single human mind. How can you possess the full
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assurance of your salvation one second, and then find yourself
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desperately begging for mercy the next?
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What you are observing in the text is the beautiful paradox of
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the justified Sinner. In Reformed theology we use the
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Latin phrase formulated during the Reformation simil Eustis
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epicatur. Meaning we are simultaneously
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justified and yet still sinners. Yes, we understand that while a
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believer is fully justified, meaning God has declared them
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legally righteous in the courtroom of heaven once and for
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all, with no possibility of double jeopardy, we are still
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actively undergoing the lifelong process of sanctification.
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We still battle the remnants of our corrupt nature, our
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remaining. So possessing the absolute
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assurance of salvation does not eliminate the need for daily
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desperate prayer. It actually drives us to it.
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We approached the throne of grace with absolute boldness
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because of the blood of the Covenant, knowing He is our
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portion. But we approach him with
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tremendous face to the floor humility because we are keenly,
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painfully aware of our own persistent sinfulness.
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The believer never at any point in this mortal life graduates
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from being a dependent pensioner on God's daily grace.
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That phrase, being a pensioner on God's grace, is so grounding.
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And David is not just casually asking for a handout either.
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The text explicitly says he entreated favor with his whole
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heart. The Puritan writer Walter
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Marshall makes a fast, fascinating, almost surgical
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observation here about the anatomy of prayer.
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Marshall points out that true prayer is chiefly a heart work.
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He says something that should stop us in our track.
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God hears the heart without the mouth, but He never hears the
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mouth without the heart. Oh wow, that is a devastating
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critique of so much modern religion.
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It really is. We are so good at reciting the
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right theological words. We sing the correct worship
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lyrics on Sunday morning. We bow our heads at the
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appropriate times. But our affections, our actual
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desires are 1,000,000 miles away, thinking about lunch or
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our bank accounts. Yes, and the Puritans were
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absolute masters at diagnosing that specific brand of religious
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hypocrisy. To pray with the whole heart
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implies that your intellect, your affections, and your human
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will are entirely engaged and intensely concentrated on the
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petition you are bringing before the throne.
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It is not mindless repetition, but I want to draw your
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attention to the specific legal basis of David's plea.
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Look at the end of the verse. He says, Be merciful unto me,
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according to thy word. He's not just asking for generic
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formless kindness. No, he is not.
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The English Presbyterian minister Edmund Calamy makes a
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brilliant point here. Calamy divides the entirety of
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Scripture into three major categories, commands, threats,
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and promises. Calamy calls the promises the
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Magna Charta of Heaven. He says the promises are the
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actual food of faith. When we ask for mercy according
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to God's Word, we are regulating our prayers by God's explicit
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written promises, not our own wild imaginations or selfish
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desires. That completely changes the
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dynamic of how we talk to God. Thomas Manton, another Puritan
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heavy hitter, echoes is this exact sentiment.
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He says that God is made of voluntary debtor by his own
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promise. That is a staggering thought to
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wrap your mind around. God owes us absolutely nothing
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but wrath, yet He freely chooses to bind himself by His own
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written word. So when we pray, we are
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essentially taking God's own signed promises, holding them up
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to Him in the courtroom of heaven, and saying, Lord, do as
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you have said, honor your own signature.
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We're not throwing coins in a wishing well and hoping for the
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best. We are cashing a check that God
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has already signed in the blood of Christ.
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You are presenting the legal tender of heaven, and that
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requires us to actually know the word.
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We cannot possibly pray according to the promises if we
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do not know what the promises actually are.
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Which perfectly sets up the logical progression into verse
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59. Because if knowing the word is
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that critical, we have to look at how we apply it to ourselves.
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Verse 59 says I thought on my ways, and turn my feet into thy
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testimonies. We're looking at the gritty
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mechanics of repentance here. The Hebrew concept of thinking
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used in this verse is fascinating.
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It does not just mean letting your mind wander while you stare
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out a window. Right, it means to calculate
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accurately to take stock. The commentators suggest it is
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like a master embroiderer looking minutely for a single
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flawed thread in a massive piece of fabric, or a ruthless
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accountant strictly auditing a business Ledger looking for
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missing funds. Now taking that concept of the
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ruthless audit, I have to ask you why is rigorous self
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examination so universally avoided in our current culture,
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even inside the church? Are we just too distracted by
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our screams? Or is it because looking at that
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spiritual Ledger is just too painful to endure?
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It is absolutely because it is too painful, and our reformed
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theology explains precisely why we run from it.
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Total depravity. Yes, the doctrine of total
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depravity teaches that every faculty of our being, our minds,
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our emotions, and our wills is corrupted by the fall of Adam.
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Because of this corruption, we naturally sheet the searing
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light of God's holiness because it exposes our dark deeds.
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We have a hardwired natural aversion to the pain of
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conviction. True repentance, however,
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requires this painful, unflinching audit.
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We must look at our massive spiritual deficit.
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Stephen Charnock, who wrote extensively on the attributes of
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God, uses a highly visceral analogy to explain this process.
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Let us hear. It he points out that our
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physical bodies will actually physically shiver and gag at the
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mere memory of a bitter, nasty medicine we once had to swallow.
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In the same way, Charnock argues, our souls should
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violently shudder at the memory of our past sins.
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We should not look back on our sin with fond nostalgia.
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No, we should use that spiritual disgust, that sickening
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realization of what our sin cost Christ, to kindle a renewed,
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burning obedience. We use the bitter memory to
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drive us away from the poison. That is such a vivid, almost
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uncomfortable picture. Instead of suppressing the
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memory of our sin or laughing about it, we let the bitter
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metallic taste of it drive us toward holiness.
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Philip Henry gives us a very actionable daily application for
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this turning process. He says the great turn of the
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human heart must be toward the Word of God.
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He outlines 4 specific ways we must use the Bible in this
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audit. First, we use it as our
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touchstone to examine the true state of our souls, like a
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jeweler testing gold. 2nd, we use it as our mirror to dress
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our souls by seeing our true reflection, flaws and all. 3rd,
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we use it as our washing water to actively cleanse us from the
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filth we just saw in the mirror. And 4th we use it as our sword
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to actively fight our spiritual enemies.
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So I would ask you, the listener, to pause and consider
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your daily habits right now. Are you rigorously auditing your
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Ledger using the touchstone of Scripture?
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Or are you just guessing your spiritual net worth and hoping
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you are not bankrupt? That daily rigorous audit is
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crucial because it bridges the gap between thought and action.
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Matthew Henry, expanding on his father's teaching, notes the
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chronological progression in David's life.
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He says David reflected on his ways at night when it was quiet.
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He directed his feet to God's testimonies in the morning.
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And then he performed his good works throughout the day without
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any delay. Consideration is the necessary
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commencement of conversion. Action without deep thought is
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foolishness, but thought without immediate action is spiritual
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sloth. When the Holy Spirit illuminates
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a specific sin in your life during this audit, or reveals a
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specific duty you have been neglecting, the only correct
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biblical response is immediate, unquestioning action.
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And that logical progression leads us crashing right into
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verse 60, which deals heavily with the urgency of obedience,
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the text reads. I made haste and delayed not to
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keep thy commandments. The audit revealed a deficit,
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and the response was an immediate Sprint to fix it.
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Now I want to push back pretty hard on this concept of haste.
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In almost every other area of human existence, we are taught
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to slow down. Our culture says haste makes
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waste. We're told to sleep on it before
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making a big decision. We believe second thoughts are
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best. That is true.
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If a car salesman tells you that you have to sign the paperwork
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for a vehicle right this very second or the deal is off, your
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instinct is to walk away because urgency is usually a
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manipulation tactic. It is a trap.
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So why is rapid, immediate, breathless action commanded here
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in the spiritual life? Why not take a week to pray
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about the conviction? It is a massive difference in
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context. Henry Melville, a powerful 19th
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century preacher, provides the answer to that tension.
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He observes that in the normal affairs of the world,
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deliberation is wisdom. But in the religious life.
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Taking time to reflect on a clear, undeniable biblical
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command is actually deadly. We are not weighing options
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between 2 equal choices. We are responding to the
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absolute sovereign of the universe who has already spoken
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clearly. The Methodist theologian Adam
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Clark draws our attention to the original Hebrew word used here
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for delaying, which is hip Mama. It is a highly emphatic, almost
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stuttering word that implies standing around, indecision,
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shuffling your feet or suspending action.
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Interestingly and terrifyingly, it is the exact same Hebrew word
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used in the book of Genesis to describe Lot lingering in the
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city of Sodom. The angels have told him the
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fire and brimstone are coming, the destruction is imminent, and
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yet Lot is hit. Mama.
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He is lingering, hesitating, trying to figure out what to do
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next. Lot lingering in Sodom that
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paints A terrifying, vivid picture of what our spiritual
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procrastination actually looks like to God.
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Lot is standing around trying to figure out what silverware to
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pack, while the apocalyptic judgement of heaven is literally
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falling on his head. That puts sleeping on it in a
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whole new category. James Knowlton, another Puritan
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thinker, speaks specifically about the peril of putting off
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repentance, which is the ultimate form of this delay.
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He addresses the arrogant assumption we make that we will
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have plenty of time at the end of our lives to get our house in
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order. He warns against the foolishness
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of thinking we can handle all our worldly business, chase our
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careers, build our portfolios, and then conveniently turn to
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God in the last month or the last week of our lives.
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It is a massive, horrific gamble with eternal stakes betting a
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soul against a ticking clock we cannot see.
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It is a gamble, yes, but more seriously than that, it is
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fundamentally dishonest. Thomas Manton exposes the dark
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psychology behind this delay. What does he say?
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He says that when we dare not flatly deny God to his face
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because we are too religious or too scared to say no outright,
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we delay. We say, Lord, I hear you, but I
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am not at leisure right now. Let me finish the season of my
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life first. But Manton argues that this
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polite excuse is simply a respectable cover for the
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sinner's true rebellious feeling, which is your command
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does not please me, and I do not want to do it.
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Delay is just denial in a suit and tie.
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Let us make this practical for the listener.
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Imagine a businessman who realizes a deal he is putting
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together requires him to lie on a financial disclosure.
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The Holy Spirit convicts him through the Word.
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If that man says I need to take the weekend to pray about
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whether I should be honest, he is not being spiritual.
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He is actively rebelling. If the Holy Spirit is convicting
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you of a sin or calling you to a clear duty, delaying your
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obedience is an act of high treason.
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That is a tough, bitter pill to swallow, but is absolutely true.
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Delay is denial. The businessman in your example
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isn't seeking God's will. He's looking for a loophole.
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Let us move to verse 61. Here the tone shifts.
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We move from the internal battle of conviction and obedience to
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the external reality of intense opposition.
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The verse says, The bands of the wicked have robbed me, but I
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have not forgotten thy law. Picture the historical reality
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of David's life. He was not writing this from a
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safe, quiet monastery. He was constantly surrounded by
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lethal enemies. He had King Saul literally
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throwing Spears at his head in the throne room.
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He had his own son, Absalom staging a violent coup to steal
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his Kingdom. He had the Amalekites raiding
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his camp at Ziklag, burning the city to the ground and
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kidnapping his wives and children.
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He knew what it meant to be robbed.
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John Bunyan captures this spiritual reality perfectly in
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his legendary allegory Pilgrim's Progress, with the story of a
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character named Little. Faith, Little Faith, is walking
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down a dark alley called Dead Man's Lane and he gets jumped by
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three violent thieves. Faint heart, mistrust and guilt.
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The Bunyan allegory is a stroke of genius because it's so
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clearly distinguishes between what the enemy can actually
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touch and what remains eternally secure.
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Bunyan wrote that book while sitting in a bed for jail for 12
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years for preaching the gospel, so he understood robbery.
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When those 3 thieves attacked Little Faith in Dead Man's lane,
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they knock him unconscious and they steal his spending money.
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That spending money represents A believers temporal goods, their
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earthly comforts, their physical health, their reputation, and
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perhaps even their present emotional sense of peace.
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The enemy can take all of that. But Bunyan is careful to note
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that no matter how hard the thieves searched him, they never
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found his jewels. The jewels represent His
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justification, his eternal standing with God, His effectual
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calling, His supreme portion. The thieves could not take the
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jewels because they were hidden deep within him by God.
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The spending money is gone, you feel the pain of the mugging,
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but the jewels are completely secure.
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That is incredibly comforting for anyone going through a
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season of loss right now. John Kelvin offers 2 very
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insightful interpretations of how these bands of the wicked
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actually operate To Steal from Us, which expands on this idea
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of robbery. Kelvin says the chords or bands
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of the wicked can be literal violent robbery, like the
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government confiscating property, finding believers, or
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inflicting physical persecution and imprisonment.
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But Calvin, being a master of human nature, also says it can
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refer to the deceptive allurements of Bad company
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trying to entangle the believer in a web of sin.
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Whether it is a violent mugging in the street or a subtle
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seduction at a corporate talk tail party, the final goal of
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the enemy is the exact same, to make you forget God's law and
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abandoned your portion. And here we must bring in the
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Westminster Confessions robust teaching on the Doctor of
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Providence to anchor our perspective.
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As Reformed believers, we do not view these robberies, whether
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they are violent physical attacks or subtle moral
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seductions, as cosmic accidents. We do not believe God was caught
25:04
off guard or was looking the other way when the thieves
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attacked. God's sovereign Providence
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extends even to the wicked, sinful actions of men.
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He does not author their sin, but He governs them, restrains
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them, and directs their evil actions to accomplish His own
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holy eternal ends. Therefore, when the believer is
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robbed of their earthly goods or their peace, they do not fall
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into nihilistic despair as the secular world does.
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They know that God is still firmly seated on the throne.
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They know their eternal, eternal jewels are safe, and so, like
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David, they cling even tighter to the law of God.
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The robbery actually drives them closer to the source of true
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wealth. That clinging to God in the
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middle of a dark, hostile environment brings us directly
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to verse 62. At midnight I will rise to give
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thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.
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The absolute oddity of this verse should jump off the page
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at anyone reading it. Think about the context.
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Midnight is meant for sleeping. Or given the previous verse
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where he was just mugged, Midnight is for sitting up with
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a drawn sword, staring at the door, worrying about the robbers
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who just took your goods, coming back for your life.
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But David wakes up in the pitch black to sing.
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And here's the strangest part of all.
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He does not sing about green pastures.
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He does not sing about still waters or gentle shepherds.
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He sings about God's judgments. Let me push back on this on
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behalf of the listener. Judgments are terrifying.
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Judgments involve wrath, punishment, and the holy law
26:28
coming down on sinners. How can a Christian find joy and
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write a midnight song of praise about the strict, terrifying
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judgments of God? It is a radical shift in
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perspective. To understand the mechanics of
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this, we look to Thomas Manton, who derives 5 very practical
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lessons from this specific verse that help explain David's unique
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mindset. Let us walk through them.
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First, Manton points out the sheer ardency of David's
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devotion. David conquered his natural
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heavy physical fatigue to engage in worship.
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Second, his deep sincerity is seen in his absolute secrecy.
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At midnight there is no congregation, there is no
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audience, no choir, no one to applaud his piety.
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It is just him and the living God in the dark. 3rd, it shows
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his high evaluation of time, considering the hours of the
27:15
night too precious to waste entirely on unconscious sleep.
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4th He clearly valued spiritual exercises and communion with God
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above his own physical refreshment.
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And 5th, his reverence in Secret adoration is notable.
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The text implies he actually rose from his warm bed to
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physically bow his knee on the cold floor rather than just
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lying there having a few sleepy good thoughts.
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Thoughts about God? That physical posture in secret,
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when no one is watching to give him credit, says so much about
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his internal reverence. But let us go back to the actual
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content of the song. Why praise God for judgments?
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For the ungodly, the justice of God is the most terrifying
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prospect in the universe. It means condemnation.
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It means the books are opened and every dark secret is
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punished. But for the Reformed believer,
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the perspective completely shifts.
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How does the terror become a song?
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It's just entirely because of the central doctrine of the
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Reformation imputed righteousness.
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As believers, we understand that God's law is the perfect legal
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decision of the supreme arbiter of the universe.
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But we also know we have broken that law.
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Here is where the grace of Christ enters.
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Theologians speak of Christ active and passive obedience.
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Christo's active obedience means he lived a perfect life, keeping
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every single commandment of the law that we broke.
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His passive obedience means he willingly submitted to the
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cross, suffering the infinite wrath and penalty that our law
28:34
breaking deserved. Because we are united to Christ
28:37
by faith, His perfect record is imputed or credited to our
28:41
account. Therefore, we are shielded from
28:43
the penalty. The justice of God is no longer
28:46
a threat to us because the penalty has been fully paid by
28:48
our substitute. God cannot punish the same sin
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twice. So the believer can look at
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God's strict justice and see it not as a terrifying executioner,
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but as a glorious holy attribute to be praised.
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We rejoice that God is a righteous judge who will right
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all the wrongs of the world. He will punish the wicked who
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robbed the innocent and vindicate his own holy name, all
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while we stand safe in the righteousness of Christ.
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So the very attribute of God that condemns the wicked becomes
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the absolute bedrock of security and a source of midnight praise
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for the justified believer. That is a massive paradigm
29:23
shift. Now moving from the secret
29:25
midnight worship, in verse 62 we look at who David associates
29:29
with in the daylight. In verse 63, the text says, I am
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a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep
29:35
thy precepts. The Puritan George Swinnick has
29:38
a great, highly relatable analogy for this concept of
29:41
fellowship. Swinnick says think of travelers
29:44
resting at a busy roadside inn. The inn is crowded, chaotic,
29:48
full of merchants, soldiers and Wanderers, all going different
29:50
directions. If you want to know where a
29:52
specific man is traveling, you do not just ask him, you listen
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to who he asks to ride with the next morning.
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If he seeks out the company of the pilgrims heading down the
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narrow, difficult road, you know with certainty he is bound for
30:05
the Celestial City. We naturally gravitate toward
30:08
those going in the same direction we are.
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It is the unavoidable principle of spiritual gravity.
30:13
Like attracts like. But notice the staggering,
30:16
almost shocking humility in this verse.
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We must remember who was speaking.
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David is the anointed king of Israel.
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He is a towering intellect, a brilliant poet, a mighty warrior
30:26
who has slain thousands, and a prophet of the Most High God.
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By all earthly standards, he should only associate with elite
30:33
nobles and foreign diplomats, yet he willfully and joyfully
30:36
aligns himself with the lowliest, poorest peasants in
30:39
the Kingdom, provided they possess the fear of God.
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Earthly social standing means absolutely nothing to him in the
30:46
realm of spiritual fellowship. The Puritan writer William
30:49
Cowper uses a beautiful historical analogy here.
30:53
He points to the moment David searched the Kingdom for
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Jonathan's crippled son Mephibosheth, pulling him from
30:59
obscurity to show him kindness for Jonathan's sake.
31:02
In the exact same way, the true Christian looks for any believer
31:06
on earth, regardless of their social status, their wealth, or
31:09
their background, to show kindness to them for the sake of
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Jesus Christ. That completely shatters the
31:15
cliques and divisions we so often see plaguing modern
31:18
churches. Look closely at the universal
31:20
particle in the verse, the word all.
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I am a companion of all them that fear thee.
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That is a massive challenge to us.
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We do not get to pick and choose our our spiritual family based
31:30
on who shares our precise socio economic background, our
31:33
specific political leanings, or our weekend hobbies.
31:36
We tend to build churches that look like country clubs for
31:39
people who agree with us on earthly matters.
31:41
But the true Catholicity, meaning the universal nature of
31:44
the true Church, means we are tightly bound as companions at
31:48
every single person on this planet who fears God and keeps
31:51
His precepts, even if we have nothing else in common.
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Thomas Manton highlights this universality as well, and he
31:58
issues a sharp critique of human nature.
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He notes that self love often reigns supreme in men.
32:04
We naturally love the rich, the influential and the attractive,
32:07
and we despise the poor and the awkward.
32:09
We fall constantly into the sin of partiality that the apostle
32:13
James warns about so fiercely in his letter.
32:16
We show favoritism to the man with the gold ring.
32:18
But David statement cuts a blazing path right across all
32:21
those worldly, fleshly divisions.
32:23
The only criteria for his fellowship, the only requirement
32:26
to sit at his table, is an inward reverence for God fearing
32:29
him, and an outward visible obedience keeping his precepts.
32:33
This cross cultural, cross economic fellowship is essential
32:36
because it is this very communion of Saints that
32:38
strengthens the individual believer to endure the worldly
32:41
opposition and robbery we discussed back in verse 61.
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We need each other to survive the road.
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That brings us to our final section, the climax of the
32:49
octave, verse 64. The earth, O Lord, is full of
32:53
Thy mercy. Teach me thy statutes.
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There is a beautiful, almost startling irony here when you
32:59
view it against the backdrop of David's life.
33:02
Think about the landscape we have covered.
33:04
David is haunted by a paranoid King Saul.
33:07
He is exiled into the wilderness.
33:09
He is robbed by bands of the wicked.
33:11
He's betrayed by his own son. And yet he looks around at this
33:14
broken, hostile, violent environment and declares with
33:17
absolute conviction, The earth is full of thy mercy.
33:20
I have to ask you, the listener right now, does your view of the
33:24
world match David's? When you look at your daily
33:26
circumstances, do you only see the negative do?
33:29
You only see the robbery, the hardship, the political chaos,
33:32
the things that are going wrong. Or do you have the spiritual
33:35
eyes to see an earth overflowing with God's mercy?
33:38
It absolutely requires spiritual eyes, regenerated eyes, to see
33:42
what David saw. Theologians make a crucial
33:44
distinction here that helps us understand David's worldview.
33:47
They distinguish between God's general Providence, often called
33:50
common grace, and His special saving grace.
33:54
General Providence is the mercy that Jesus spoke of when he said
33:57
God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends
34:01
rain on the just and the unjust. GS Bose, a 19th century writer,
34:06
provides some vivid imagery for this.
34:09
Bose points back to the Old Testament Tabernacle.
34:11
He says everything in it, proclaims mercy.
34:14
The water in the molten sea, the provision of the showbread, the
34:16
atoning smoke of the sacrifices. But then he looks at the natural
34:20
world and says the exact same thing is true.
34:22
The daily light that wakes us up.
34:24
The oxygen we breathe, the rivers that provide water, the
34:28
entire theater of the physical world is upheld moment by
34:31
moment, by the mercy of God. Without this common grace, the
34:35
earth would be instantly consumed by the holy justice we
34:38
discussed earlier. Every breath a rebel takes is a
34:41
suspended sentence. That is the reality of common
34:43
grace. But David does not stop at
34:45
observing the general mercy in the earth.
34:47
He does not just say, wow, what a beautiful sunset, God is good
34:50
and leave it there like a deist. The verse concludes with the
34:53
highest possible petition. Teach me thy statutes.
34:56
Why is this the climax of this entire 8 verse section?
34:59
Because the regenerate soul recognizes that while general
35:02
mercy like sunshine and rain is wonderful, the highest possible
35:07
privilege a human being can experience is to be personally,
35:10
intimately instructed by the Creator of the Universe and the
35:13
path of holiness. It is moving from knowing God as
35:16
a general benefactor to knowing Him as a personal father and
35:19
teacher. That is the essence of the
35:21
regenerate heart. Let us connect the end back to
35:24
the beginning. Having claimed God as His
35:26
supreme portion in verse 57, David now asks God to be His
35:30
personal instructor in verse 64. Think of a young man who has
35:34
just inherited a massive royal estate.
35:37
He possesses the portion, but he requires A thorough, rigorous
35:40
education so his daily behavior matches his new noble
35:44
inheritance. He needs to learn how a king
35:46
acts. God's statutes, His laws are the
35:49
curriculum of holiness. The true believer is never
35:51
satisfied with just knowing they are saved from hell.
35:54
We have an insatiable, burning appetite to learn the ways of
35:56
their Savior. They want to know how to please
35:58
the God who rescued them. They want the curriculum.
36:01
So let us recap the progression we have traced today through
36:04
these 8 verses. Looking at the marks of life, we
36:07
started with the absolute bedrock.
36:09
Claiming God is our supreme portion.
36:12
Rejecting the cheap alternatives Satan offers.
36:15
From there we saw the posture of the justified Sinner, pleading
36:19
for daily mercy, conducting A rigorous, painful audit of our
36:22
ways, using the touchstone of Scripture, and then running
36:25
swiftly to obey without the rebellion of delay.
36:27
We looked at defying the robbery of the world because our jewels
36:30
are secure, finding the theological strength to praise
36:33
God for His justice in the pitch dark of midnight, seeking out
36:37
holy fellowship across all social lines, and finally
36:40
begging the Creator for divine instruction to live a holy life.
36:43
As we conclude this deep dive into the source material, I want
36:46
to leave you with a final challenge to turn over in your
36:49
mind. We have seen throughout this
36:50
entire section that the true mark of a believer is a
36:53
relentless, driving appetite for the things of God.
36:56
So consider this practical test. When you wake up in the quiet of
37:00
the night at 2:00 AM, when your phone is dark and all the
37:03
distractions of the day are stripped away, where do your
37:06
thoughts naturally drift? Do they drift immediately toward
37:10
the anxieties of the world, your financial Ledger, your earthly
37:13
security, your grudges? Or do they rise naturally, like
37:16
smoke from an altar, toward the author of your salvation?
37:19
Let that quiet moment in the dark be the true test of where
37:22
your portion lies, because when the diagnostic Muddy Waters
37:26
finally settle, the regenerate heart will always point back to
37:30
the Creator. Thank you for joining us on
37:32
Reformed Thinking.