Psalm 119:89-96

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GOOD MORNING! The living, lasting, faithful word of God is the message of this 12th section of Psalm 119, which begins with verse 89: "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies. I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad."[1]

All things of this earth have a limit, but the holy word of God is eternally all-abiding. "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." Our Saviour declared in His manifesto of the kingdom of heaven, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."[2]

We should be startled into careful consideration by noting that the "jot" and "tittle" are as detailed and critical as the crossing of a "t" and the dotting of an "I". The perfect law is perfectly kept.

God's law touches every act, every word, and thought of mankind; and is of such a spiritual nature that it judges the motives, desires, and emotions of the soul.

The word of God reveals a perfection which convicts us for our shortcomings as well as for our transgressions. God's law does not allow us to make up for deficiencies in one direction by special carefulness in another. "If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. … So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty."[3]

There is a breadth about the commandment which has never been met to the full in any son or daughter of Adam. One only, the God-Man, JESUS CHRIST the LORD, is perfect and without sin. "Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight:"[4]

"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." Men's teachings change so often that there is never time for them to be settled: but the LORD'S word is from eternity past the same and will remain unchanged eternally.

Yes! Our LORD and Saviour CHRIST JESUS is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."[5] … The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:" [6] … "Thy faithfulness is unto all generations."

Let us consider the Psalmist's confession of faith: "I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts." By faith we are conscious that we belong to the LORD by the new birth; this makes us confident that "he is able to keep that which [we] have committed unto him against that day." [7]

We are God's possession by creation, and by election, and by redemption, and by his acceptance in CHRIST JESUS the LORD. We cannot stand on our achievements, we cannot rely upon our endurance "for, The just shall live by faith."[8]

"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness,
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood,
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay."[9]

"I am thine, save me." When I say to the heavenly Father, "I am thine," I am pleading the covenant of grace that has always been in effect. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." [10]…"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."[11]

AMEN.

[1] Psalm 119:89-96
[2] Matthew 5:17-18
[3] James 2:8-10,12
[4] Romans 3:20
[5] Hebrews 13:8
[6] Deuteronomy 33:27
[7] 2 Timothy 1:12
[8] Galatians 3:11
[9] From "The Solid Rock" by Edward Mote
[10] 1 John 4:10
[11] 1 John 2:2

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