Psalm 119 | Part 2
In this portion of Psalm 119, the psalmist teaches that purity and wisdom come from intentionally guarding and storing God’s Word in our hearts. Holly uses this to urge shepherd leaders to delight in Scripture, meditate on it, and live it out with humility and grace.
Transcript
This is Holly with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds series. Today we’re in the second acrostic of Psalm 119, entitled Bet – the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Verses 9 through 16 of this psalm talk of the need to pursue purity and cultivate wisdom through God’s principles and instructions. Just as a true Jewish teacher would do, the psalmist begins this portion of the song by asking his students a question.
Let’s worship together by reading Psalm 119, verses 9 through 16.
Psalm 119:9-16 (Bet)
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.15 I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
There seems to be some key words in this passage that help us stay on the path of purity and wisdom. The first is guard. When in verse 9 the psalmist says that a young man can keep his way pure by guarding according to God’s Word. Here the psalmist is literally saying we must assure our way is pure by keeping committed to purity, watching out for where we could fall, observe closely all that’s required to be pure. We are to be careful, beware and cling to purity as outlined in God’s Word. Notice, though, this is not a passive action but, in fact, a very intentional decision accompanied by intentional actions to remain pure according to God’s Word. Purity, no matter whether it is of heart or mind, does not happen by accident. In fact, following an accidental path to purity will take you down the exact opposite road.
Verse 10 contains the word whole when it refers to how we are to seek God. The literal translation is pretty clear—all, everyone, everything, the totality of a mass or collective, every, any—that we are to seek God with our entire beings not just where it’s comfortable, not just where it’s easy, not just where we’re naturally gifted, not just where we would like to seek Him, but with all our whole hearts—beings, minds, souls.
If you were raised in the church as I was, I’m sure verse 11 sounded very familiar to you. No matter the translation, there’s another key word that requires intentionality—stored, which literally means “to hide, conceal, store up, treasure, cherish.” There is no other way to truly remember God’s statutes, His ways, His road to purity of mind and heart, than to deliberately, in a planned and purposeful way, memorize them, store them deep in our souls, and hide them there for the moments we will need to recall them so that we will not lose our way, so we will not sin against the God who loves us to the depths of His soul.
As this short passage continues, we hear the psalmist asking our Lord to teach him His statutes. We must do the same.
And then as we move to verses 13 through 16, we hear the psalmist doing what we should also do: declare God’s ways so that others know them. Delight in His ways as much as we do the riches so many of us seek. And the remaining key words: meditate, fix, delight, and remember, all of which are applied by the psalmist to God’s Word, His precepts, His truths, His way.
So, the first question for you is when was the last time you truly meditated on God’s Word, not just read it, reviewed it, or scanned it, but mused over a passage, considered and thought deeply on what it meant, even telling others about it and discussing it? Do you fix your eyes on God’s ways and His Word; considering it generally and intently? Do you take joy in God’s statutes? Do you remember His word?
This is how you cultivate wisdom—by learning, studying, knowing, and remembering God’s principles and instructions, all of which requires a deliberate and intentional commitment to the Father and His Word.
In the book, Endless Grace: Prayers Inspired By the Psalms, authors Dan Wilt and Ryan Whitaker Smith capture this passage in the following prayer:
The life I long for –
life of abundance,
promise,
blessing –
is found in the keeping of Your Word,
the purity of heart and mind.
Your promises
keep me from stumbling;
your love
saves me from the pull of lesser things.
May I live
humbly,
justly,
mercifully,
before You,
filled with new songs
to voice the glories of Your grace.
Amen
As we wrap up this second passage in Psalm 119, I’m going to ask you as a shepherd leader, the one to whom your congregants, your family, your work team, and your friends look to to shepherd them well, to take time to evaluate how you’re doing in these areas. Do you long for abundance, promise, and blessing? Is your heart and mind pure? How are you doing at storing God’s Word in your heart? And then knowing it well enough to recall it when you need it. Is the manner in which you’re meditating delighting in and remembering God’s Word saving you from the pull of the lesser things in life (and there are so many of them)? And, out of curiosity, how do the sheep in your life answer that question from what they observe in your life? Are you using God’s promises to keep you from stumbling?
Here’s the hard part. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate how you think you’re doing in the areas of humility, justice, and mercy. And be honest with yourself.
I’ll close with this. How can a man or woman keep their way pure? By guarding, seeking, storing, declaring, delighting, meditating, fixing, and remembering God’s Word.
May we all fall the instructions from the Father given to us through the psalmist. And may these actions be seen in the provision, protection, and presence we demonstrate with the sheep in our lives. Take care.
DIGGING DEEPER QUESTIONS:
- Are you making intentional decisions to remain pure of heart and mind as you lead?
- What routines do you have, or need to create, that make storing God’s Word in your heart purposeful?
- What testimony of God’s goodness can you share with someone in your flock?
