Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word Pt. 77 Saving and Sound Knowledge Will Transform Us!

Psalm 119:25,26  DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. 26)  I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. 

Understanding God's precepts so our hearts are ready to serve.

Psalm 119:27  Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. 

We are learning from the Psalmist what should be important to believers in Christ. It is knowing God, fearing Him and learning His house rules so that we might live our lives for His honor and glory.

The Psalmist craves to grasp the wonderful things of God with his mind. He wants his speech, and the meditation of his heart to be centered upon Jehovah. He wants the Word to shape his thoughts, words and activities.

We began learning about the benefits of sound and saving knowledge because it settles our heart, and leaves us firmly anchored to our Rock, Jesus Christ.

All believers need to be disciples of Jesus Christ, seeking to learn all that we can from our King, Master, Savior, and Shepherd. The closer we walk with Christ, the more we learn of His mighty works, listen to His words of life, He will become our all in all.

We also learned that merely acquiring more knowledge is not the goal for studying God's Word. No, the aim of building spiritual knowledge is that we know how to live out our faith. 

It is not enough that we know some meanings of Hebrew or Greek words, or that we are well schooled in the historical narratives, or are able to memorize scripture. 

Those things are all good things, but the process must be to lead us to allow what we believe to impact what we say and do. We must live according to sound and saving knowledge!

Genuine love and avoiding evil.

Romans 12:9  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 

How do we live according to knowledge? We must be sure that our love for one another is genuine, Spirit generated love, and not some feigned affection that we put on when we see another believer. 

Put off all those things that are evil and so prevalent in our culture. Put on that which is good as defined by the scriptures. 

Restrain self love and put others before ourselves.

Romans 12:10  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 

How do we live according to knowledge? Check our heart to make sure that self love is not creeping into our relationships with others. 

Instead of loving ourselves, we are to be kindly affectioned to one another. This refers to the family love between husband and wife, parents and children, that love which is so beautiful in our homes. 

It is also the instant connection that two believers, who do not know each other can have when they speak to each other. Christ connects us and this love for other believers flows out.

We honor other believers instead of putting ourselves first. It is considering all our brethren in Christ as more worthy than ourselves. It is not allowing grief nor envy to affect our minds at seeing another honored and yourself neglected. 

Good work ethics and a passion to serve Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:11  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 

How do we live according to knowledge? By not being slothful in business. By remembering that God forbade us from working on the seventh day, but He has commanded and designed us to work Monday through Saturday.

He who neglects to work during the week is as guilty as he who works on the Lord's Day.  

This phrase also has the idea of being productive, diligent workers who do their jobs right the first time. It applies to our finances and paying our bills on time, living within our means, and so on. 

Being fervent in spirit means that the Spirit of God is having His way in our heart and we are full of zeal and passion for our Lord. It is being mindful of the Lord and doing all this for the glory of God. Whatever we do, let it be done with the mind that it is for Christ, who gave all in order to save us.

Thus, the aim here is that our hearts motivation in all that we undertake is the right motivation, that of being for the glory of God.   

Rejoicing with hope, patience and prayer.

Romans 12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 

How do we live according to knowledge? By hoping, enduring and praying with great hope in Jesus Christ. The idea here is that we live with great hope of knowing God will keep all His promises, and we rejoice at all times. 

This same hope helps us endure as we go through trials, or face tribulation. We remember that anything we suffer as Christians, we suffer for Christ’s sake. Therefore, we endure as Christ did on the cross for it is to His honor.  

This same hope leads us to be those people who pray as often as we can with passionate persistence, knowing that the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous child of God avails much at His throne of grace. 

This means making a fervent, intense prayer to the throne of grace for the light and power of the Holy Spirit. Without the working of God's mighty Spirit, we can neither abhor evil, do good, love the brethren, maintain hope, nor bear up patiently under the tribulations of life.

Helping believers in need and providing lodging in your home.

Romans 12:13  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 

How do we live according to knowledge? Relieve your poor brethren according to the power which God has given you. This connects with the apostolic instructions to those who are wealthy. 

Believers who are well off are not to be high-minded or trusting in their wealth. Rather, they are to be humble minded, trusting God and being ready to help those who are in need ( See 1 Timothy 6:17-19). 

Those whom God has blessed with wealth are to do good unto all men, but especially to them which are of the household of faith.

Being given to hospitality means that we are ready to offer a place of shelter for a brother or sister in Christ as the need may arise. For example, you may host a missionary who is home on furlough in your dwelling, as they seek to minister to your church family. 

Bless our enemies because God will judge them. 

Romans 12:14  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 

How do we live according to knowledge? This principle connects with Jesus' sermon on the mount (See Matthew 5:38-48). We are instructed to turn the other cheek if someone hits us, rather than retaliating by hitting them back. 

Jesus said we should love our enemies and bless those who wrongly take advantage of us. Why? Because Jesus Christ will one day judge the world in righteousness and He will hold sinners to account for their actions and measure out punishment. 

The culture would say "You must hit them back harder than they hit you" and that "You must heap angry words upon them when they speak evil of you." This is not the way of Jesus Christ, we are told in simple terms how a Christian is to respond in those circumstances. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Psalm 119:27  Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. 

Proverbs 24:13,14  My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: 14)  So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

King Solomon helps us see what sound and saving knowledge is like for a believer. It is like eating honey and honeycomb because there are so many health and nutritional benefits in consuming it. 

In like manner, this pursuit of sound and saving knowledge brings great spiritual blessing to our hearts. God uses this kind of knowledge in us to guide us, direct our steps and conform us into believers who reflect the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Believers in Christ who have knowledge as God intends us to have, will read what the Psalmist is trying to teach us, and begin to seek the application of it to our lives. 

We are to live according to knowledge. We cannot expect to encourage other believers to be faithful to Christ if we are a spiritual sluggards. 

Dwelling according to knowledge means leading by setting an example of Christ in us, the hope of glory.

May we all pray that the Spirit of God will begin working sound and saving knowledge from the scriptures into us so that we are sanctified and transformed into useful servants of Christ.

Bob