Psalm 119 Lesson 13 MEM - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Psalm 119

Lesson 13

Mem, Vs.97-104

Psalm 119:97-104 “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. 98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. 101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. 102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. 103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”

Intro: We have had a couple of weeks off of our study, now it is time to get back to it. Beginning the second half of the Hebrew Alphabet is the Letter Mem.

The Letter Mem,
1. Water,
  1. Meaning,
    1. the idea that was being conveyed when drawing the waves of water are:
      - well, first, what are some of the thoughts we have associated with water?
      - For the Hebrew people it was,
      - Massive or mighty / like in an ocean,
      - Chaos/ again like the ocean,
      - to come from/ like water down stream, or even a child coming from a woman,
        
        The Hebrew word for Mother is Alef Mem, power/ water (ma)
    2. Here is a little test, if we were creating a language, and used a symbol that meant water or chaos, what are some of the words we would tie to it:
      - some of the words in the Hebrew that are tied to this letter are, mother, thirst, bitter, mirror, rebellion, anoint,
2. Love and Meditate on the Word, Vs.97-100
  1. the Love of the Law,
    1. how is it possible to fall in love with the Law?
      - First, we may want to ask what the law is?
        
        In the context of this, we are talking of the words of God that have been written down up to this moment.
        
        We view the law in one of three basic ways,
        
        the first is the 635 laws that ordered the nation of Israel how to live.
        
        These were found in the writings of Moses, Primary in Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
        
        the second way the law can be viewed is the Pentateuch,
        
        the first 5 books of the Old testament, or the books of Moses.
        
        The third way, is the entire Old Testament,
        
        however at the time of the writing we know the cannon of the Old testament was not yet complete.
        
        While Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducee, He concluded this… Matthew 22:40 “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. ”
        
        My point is, that Jesus even separated the “law” from the prophets,
    2. But, back to the question of how one could fall in love with the law,
      - especially if we are talking of the precepts recorded in the books of Moses?
        
        After all, do we sometimes think they are dry and tedious?
      - John 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
        
        think about it, in no uncertain terms, Jesus said the scriptures testify of Him,
        
        what is Jesus speaking of here?
        
        The law,
      - Luke 24:25-27 “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
      - Galatians 3:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
    3. See the word is not dry or tedious, it is us,
      - the word is vibrant, alive, and full of exciting information waiting for us to discover it.
  2. By Meditating on the word,
    1. vs.98 made me wiser than my enemies,
    2. Vs.99 made me understand more than my teachers,
    3. vs.100 made me understand more than the ancients,
      - this may sound arrogant at first glance, but isn’t this the desire of any teacher?
        
        That their student will take the information they know, use it as a base, and continue even further?
        
        We don’t want the next generation to achieve less that we have do we?
        
        We want them to take what we have learned, apply it, and advance it
    4. By meditating on the word, this is exactly what they did,
      - for the past couples of weeks, I have been visiting Bro. Gene Tarter,
        
        one of My seminary instructors, He would say, it is not the job of the school to teach us the truths of the bible, but to teach us how to learn for our-self
3. Love and Obey the Word, Vs.101&102
  1. Obedience is true Understanding,
    1. Warren Weirsby “A true student of the word is not a person with a big head, full of all sorts of knowledge, but one who has an obedient heart, and loves to do God’s will.”
    2. Notice that vs.101&102 speaks of the response to the word,
      - What the Psalmist has and has not done.
      - Warren Weirsby also warns, that while God’s word is food for our souls, it is not a buffet, for us to pick and choose over. Only taking what we deem pleasant.
    3. As a child of God we have to make choices,
      - the word is servants to sin,
        
        they may think they have a choice, yet the word declares different,
        
        John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
        
        Romans 6:14 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
    4. But for the child of God, there is a choose,
      - to choose to sin, or to live righteously,
      - this is part of having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in order to help us live life according to the will of God,
    5. We are told to put off the old man, and his ways, take up the New man,
    6. submit ourselves, abstain from fleshly lust, follow, depart from evil,
      - all theses speak of the choice,
    7. Back tot he text, vs.101, I have refrained my feet… I keep thy word, vs.102, I have not departed.
      - For the child of God, the excuse I had no choice can never be used,
        
        the devil made me do it,
    8. I Samuel 15:22&23 “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
4. Love and Enjoy the Word, Vs.103&104
  1. How Sweet is Honey?
    1. For the psalmist honey would be the sweetest thing they could have tasted,
      - however, honey is odd, it is both sweet and bitter
    2. this is the way the word can be, a mixture of both sweet and bitter notes,
      - but together they are a full revelation of God, and His will for us,
      - Psalm 19:10 “ More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the”
      - Proverbs 16:24 “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”
      - Revelation 10:8-10 “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter ”
        
        and this is the same thing that Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 3,
  2. It is the Scripture that testifies of Christ
    1. remember what was said a moment ago,
      - that it is a illumination of the person of Jesus we find in the scriptures
      - so for the child of God, it brings joy, excitement, and happiness,
        
        where the people of the world may find it boring,
    2. one more thing, upon learning and understanding the truth, one develops a distaste for lies,
      - The psalmist closes this section with I hate every false way.
        
        We should be repulsed every time we hear someone miss-represent the truth of the scripture or the person of God.