BBC Sermon Cast

Many cultures around the world have a particular day around which the rest of the year pretty much revolves. For some, it may be a day of independence, or Christmas, or Easter, or a particular birthday. For Israel, the centrepiece of the calendar year was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16 records the ceremonial requirements of this day, and they point us, ultimately, to God’s final atonement in Jesus Christ.

Desperate times call for deliberate measures. Psalm 119:145–152 gives us an insight in how best to handle the oppositions that arise in the Christian life. The power of sincere, deliberate and informed prayer is modelled by the psalmist, and we would do well to follow his example.

Martin Luther once said that it is the doctrine of justification by faith alone on which the church stands for falls. This is true, and it is as true for the individual Christian as it is for the local church. Justification is so important that Paul chooses it as one piece of the armour that the Christian and the church must employ in spiritual warfare. He calls it the breastplate of righteousness, and it is this piece of weaponry that we will consider in this study.

God’s word is a mirror, which he uses to reveal his righteous character to his people, and to reveal the truth about his people to themselves.

The Bible contains its fair share of homecoming stories. One of the more extensive stories is found in the book of Ruth, which is a story of God’s grace to Naomi and Ruth, and is a living illustration of the glorious truths of the gospel.

We have been looking in recent weeks at the fact that the believer is in a war. But do we understand where this war is being waged? Do we get the arena of this warfare? If we do, then we will be in a helpful position from which to victoriously fight the good fight of faith.

In Psalm 119:129–136, the psalmist highlights his love for God’s word and therefore his commitment to prayerfully keep it, while grieving that others do not share his commitment. This section exhorts us to be firm in our own commitment to prayerfully and passionately keep God’s truth.

What do miserable Christians sing? We sing and pray and glory in our suffering, knowing that, as Paul said, it is producing in us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Christian, embrace your suffering, even when you have done what is just and right. God has given you the ultimate pledge of good—his very own Son. So love and cherish his gospel, and hate every false way. God’s salvation is coming.

When it comes to the Christian and truth, Paul says that we should all be wound tight—by and to the truth of God. We should be “tightly bound” by and to the truth of God. In this study, I want to help us embrace afresh the truth that tightens, that we might leave this text “tightly bound.”

There is something stable for the Christian: God’s rules; God’s law. But since God’s law reflects God’s character, the Christian has the blessing of God who is stable. This is a common thread in this portion of Psalm 119.