Psalm 119:Focus On God's Word Pt. 95 Pray To Live A Holy & Pure Life

Psalm 119:25-30  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. 27)  Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. 28)  My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. 29)  Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. 30)  I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. 

Asking Jehovah to protect us from sinners and from ourselves. 

Psalm 119:31  I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.

We have looked at several of the important aspects of sticking to the scriptures like glue, and now we look at the prayer request made by the Psalmist. 

The first half of this text is his declaration of being faithful with regard to the Word of God.

We see the confident assurance the Psalmist has as he makes his request known to the Lord. God already knows that the Psalmist is diligent to read, re-read, memorize and seek to understand the scriptures. God already knows that the Psalmist is right to declare that he faithfully stuck to them. 

His prayer is a prayer for the prevention of evil experiences in his own life. Essentially, he is praying, "Lord, don't let me suffer the reproaches of wicked men for I have stuck to thy testimonies."

Thus, he is praying that their sinful ways will not have any adverse impact upon his own pursuit of holiness. 

Any person who does not stick to the scriptures, and fails to be both diligent and zealous about sticking to them, will be put to shame before man and God. 

Why did the Spirit of God move the Psalmist to use the word "shame?" Because shame is one of the immediate fruits of sin. 

Before sin entered the world, there was no shame. 

Genesis 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.  

Here is the reality of creation before sin entered into the world. Adam and Eve were both naked and unashamed. 

After sinning, Adam and Eve were ashamed. 

Genesis 3:7-10  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8)  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9)  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10)  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.  

It was a different story after Adam and Eve chose to listen to the deceitful lies of the serpent. Now, they were ashamed and sought to cover their bodies. They were ashamed and attempted to hide from God.

A loss of life can be a matter of fear. A loss of possessions may cause grief and sorrow, but the loss of integrity due to sin is a matter of shame. Thus, infamy, disgrace and shame is the rotten fruit of sin.  

Saved to serve God without shame.

Romans 6:20,21  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21)  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 

Those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ through a personal relationship with Him, by repentant faith, are the slaves of sin. 

Paul included believers in that category, because all of us used to be slaves to sin, until Christ rescued us. The apostle reminds us to live a holy life for God now, because we are now ashamed of the sins we used to commit. 

God grants us eternal life and freedom to love and serve Him.

Romans 6:22,23  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23)  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

The power of God unto salvation is the mighty gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus freed us from the shackles of sin so that we could love and serve God instead of loving and serving our fleshly lusts. 

The wages of our sins is death and Jesus absorbed the full penalty for our sin, when He died on the cross. He did this so that by faith in His blood, we might receive the gift of God, which is eternal life. 

The Psalmist has a long history with Jehovah of dedicated study of the Word and seeking to live a holy, God pleasing life. Yet, this undeniably godly man still prayed that he would be kept from falling into the shame and degradation of sin.

This teaches us that even the most steadfast Christian, who ardently pursues the things of God and carefully seeks to do those things of which God approves, is not totally out of danger.

Dangers are still around us in this present evil world.

1 Corinthians 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

If at any time, a believer allows negligence to creep into his spiritual life, that believer can be drawn away by lust like King David was in the affair of Bathsheba and Uriah. 

Many times, men of high reputation in the church, have fallen into sin. Some through arrogance, some through carelessness and some through worldliness. 

Abraham's nephew Lot, was so influenced by the depraved culture of Sodom and Gomorrah, that he was willing to give his virgin daughters to the homosexuals who surrounded his home in an effort to seize his angelic visitors.

After Lot escaped the fiery judgment of God upon those wicked cities, when it was just him and his daughters hiding in a cave, he fathered a child by both of them.  (See Genesis 19:1-38). 

After the flood, Noah became drunk with wine and laid on his bed naked. His sons discovered his shame (Genesis 9). 

Let us never give unbelievers reason to reproach the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

2 Samuel 12:14  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. 

After the prophet Nathan confronted King David about his murder of Uriah and adulterous affair with Bathsheba, he told the king that although Jehovah forgave him, there was still a great problem.

King David's sins gave the enemies of Jehovah a wide open door to blaspheme Him. Therefore, the king had many external and internal conflicts to deal with for the rest of his reign as king. 

Justified by faith, Access by faith, hope through faith. 

Romans 5:1,2  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2)  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Like the Psalmist and the apostle Paul, let us remember our standing before God is based upon the perfect work of Christ on the cross. We have peace with the Father through the saving work of the Son of God. By faith we access this glorious grace of God so that we can rejoice in the hope of God's glory.

Hope in the veracity of the scriptures and the unchangeable nature of God.

Romans 5:3-5  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4)  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5)  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

We can glory when we suffer for Christ's sake. We can rejoice when we are reviled as Jesus was reviled. Each trial or tribulation that we face is designed by God to work a patient endurance into our life as a believer in Christ. 

This patient enduring leads to the experience of leaning on the everlasting arms of Jehovah as we go through each trial. We soon discover that He will not leave us and that He will comfort us. 

Talk to a man or woman who has been a Christian for many years and they will gladly tell you what the Lord did for them through each trial. 

Through each experience, confidence increases in Jesus Christ and the promises of God.

Such experiences of God at work in our hearts, causes us to have great joy and hope. Hope in the promises of God, the character of God and the Person of God, is strengthening to our soul and we will not be ashamed of the God we love and serve. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Let us follow Paul's exhortation to lift up our hands and pray without doubting. If we have confessed and forsaken our sins to the best of our ability, our prayers will be heard. 

1 Timothy 2:8  I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 

Instead, let us be aware of these truths and spend time praying as the Psalmist did. 

Pray that the mighty hand of God would protect us from falling into sin.  

Pray that He would impress strongly upon our heart, the need to live for His glory.  

Pray that He will supply the strength we need to live a holy life, so that we are never the reason why unbelievers and blasphemers mock His holy name. 

Pray that as we go through trials or tribulation, we will not in any way, bring dishonor to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Pray for our pastors, teachers and leaders in the church to be strengthened against sin and against doing anything that would bring reproach upon Jesus Christ and His gospel.

Bob