9 How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden 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 have declared
All the judgments of Your mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.
16 I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
King David became not only a great king over God’s people in the Old Testament, but also the most famous psalm writer in all of Israel’s history. We saw last time that he is credited with composing the Psalm of psalms, the longest one in the Bible’s book of Psalms: Psalm 119. Twenty-two stanzas, each with 8 verses beginning with a common letter of the Hebrew alphabet. David wrote this magnificent poem to glorify the God he so deeply loved, by telling all the excellent qualities of God’s inspired WORD.
In the first stanza of Psalm 119, we saw the psalmist’s deep longing to be just like the blessed ones he saw who were walking in God’s ways. He could see that the most blessed and joyful people around him were those who were seeking the Lord, not just out of guilt or obligation, but “with their whole heart.” David’s longing comes from a heart of humility that is well aware of the sins he’s capable of. In the middle of this first stanza, his heart cries out: “Oh that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes!” He realized that without God’s help, there was no way he could properly keep all of His commands “diligently,” that is, to FULLY obey them. He wants to avoid being ashamed before men, and utterly forsaken by his God.
We mentioned last time that David’s greatest descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to bear our sin and the shame that went with it, when He went to the cross to die for sinners. He felt the utter forsakenness that was reserved for you and me, when He took David’s place on that cross, and felt the wrath that we deserved for breaking the righteous laws of God.
When a person is born again—born from ABOVE—by God the Holy Spirit, that person receives a brand new heart, a new nature, that longs to become one of the blessed ones who walk in God’s ways. No longer is he or she content to wander and stray from the Father’s commands. Rather, we want to become more and more like Jesus, the Holy One of God, who never displeased His Father in heaven. Like us, Jesus was born under the law of God—the law that demands perfect obedience. But, unlike us, Jesus alone was able to fully obey that law, and He did so in our place!
Those desires are expressed in this second stanza, each verse beginning with BETH, the second Hebrew letter. Verses 9-11 each mention something that David hopes to avoid, knowing that his heart is deceitful and must be trained to walk in God’s ways of righteousness. Let’s read them once again.
You’ll notice that David writes as a “young man.” He doesn’t pretend to have arrived at a level of wisdom that needs no more instruction. He wants to grow in maturity, to progress in the things of God. He realizes that there is impurity all around him, as well as within him. How can that badness—that defilement—be cleansed? “By taking heed, according to Your word,” he answers.
“Taking heed” goes beyond mere HEARING. “Be doers of the word,” James teaches us, “and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Taking heed of what the Bible teaches means taking possession of its truth for the purpose of living it out. So often a mother or father might tell their child, “How many times have I TOLD you this, and you don’t really LISTEN.” Millions of people may call the Bible “the good book,” but how many of them have proven how “good” it is by putting it into practice?
Those who want to play a musical instrument well, have to take steps to put their learning into practice. They must place their fingers “just so” and move them in the right ways. They must go over their music again and again, until it is learned and becomes automatic. All of that takes time, daily practice, over months and years. It is the same with the word of God. If we wish to be like the blessed ones who imitate the character of Christ, we must practice the Bible’s teaching.
David’s heart was in the right place. He saw himself as needing to mature, to be instructed. But he confessed that his “whole heart” was in this pursuit of pleasing God. And his heart was crying out with that deep, longing word: OH! “Oh, let me not wander from your commandments” (v. 10). For the Christian, the road map to pleasing God must include “the Big Ten.” God’s moral law, the Ten Commandments. But how many people calling themselves Christians can name all ten of these important rules for life and happiness? For that’s what the 10 Commandments ARE.
Now, I’m not about to go into all ten of the Ten Commandments right now, but I want to encourage you to do so, whoever you are. Please understand: you can go to heaven without following all ten of the Ten Commandments, BUT in order to please God the Father, and in order to fully honor Jesus Christ His Son, these rules ought to be memorized and observed in all the areas of our lives.
And David, as a redeemed Israelite, looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, had a deep, deep longing to NOT WANDER from these commands. They are found in Exodus chapter 20, and in other places, and are definitely to be included in “basic training” for any believer who trusts in Christ to save them. Those who have no desire to please and obey the Lord, cannot really claim to know and love Him. For when someone is born again, a new heart is granted—a heart that is like David’s and longs to not wander from God’s commandments.
Are we making an effort to MEMORIZE God’s word? This is David’s own personal defense against sin in his life. “That I might not sin against You,” Lord, David was praying, “Your word I have hidden in my heart.” I’ve stored it away in my memory, where it is always available to bring it back to mind and go over it again and again. Again, remember that this man was aware of the sins that threatened to overtake him. So often we think of Biblical figures as moral and spiritual giants who rarely needed to repent. But David, Moses, Abraham, and the rest, all had their blind areas and their human weaknesses where Satan attacked them and gained temporary victories. They all needed to learn God’s lessons, admit their mistakes, repent of their sins.
If you’ve never taken the time to memorize the Ten Commandments, for example, what better place could you begin? The first step to avoiding the breaking of God’s law, surely, is to KNOW the laws that are in danger of being broken! People who really CARE about driving safely are the ones who read and commit to memory the RULES of safe driving. David resolved in his heart that he “might not sin against” the God he so greatly loved. So part of keeping that resolution was hiding God’s word in his heart.
A human heart is a WANDERING heart. Make no mistake about it. “All we, like sheep, have gone astray,” wrote Isaiah. “We have turned, every one, to his own way.” Wandering sheep go astray. Wandering sheep get in trouble, they get dirty, they get trapped by enemies, they make messes the Shepherd must deal with. Thank the Lord, we have a “Good Shepherd” who not only “lays down his life for the sheep,” but keeps watch over them and brings them back to the fold when they wander away. But the Christian’s heart is also a LONGING heart.
True believers, like King David, make plans so that they don’t wander as far, or as often, as they once did, or are in danger of wandering. The first step in David’s plan is in verse 12 where He calls on the Lord for His help. “Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me your statutes.” David has expressed his longing to be among the “blessed ones” who please God by walking in His ways. Now he calls on the “Blessed One” Himself, the fountain of ALL blessing and goodness, to be his own teacher, his own tutor, his own Professor in the school of blessing. And what David asks to be taught are “Your statutes.” Statutes are customs that are PRESCRIBED. They are appointed behaviors that are to be expected by those in authority.
To receive good things in life, there are certain prescribed behaviors—like working in order to get money, or having a pleasing appearance in order to attract a mate. Likewise, in order to receive God’s greatest blessings, there are things He has prescribed in His word. David wants to be taught those statutes so his life will be free from sin, and open to all the blessings God can give him!
Being taught by God means learning and delighting in His words. Treasuring and trusting the instruction He gives us in the Bible. David takes part in this teaching process in four ways that are mentioned in this stanza: Declaring, Rejoicing, Meditating, and Delighting. Declaring and Rejoicing in the word of God are public matters. Meditating and Delighting in the word are usually private in nature.
“With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth!” Speaking God’s truth out loud in the presence of others, is a sure evidence that one is committed to that truth. We show that we are so convinced of the truth of God’s word, we are happy and excited to share it with others. Even more: “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches.” How glad we are when we receive or inherit a large amount of money! But the psalmist can hardly contain his joy in learning and understanding the ways mapped out by the testimony of his God.
“I will meditate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways,” he goes on to say. What we do and focus on when we’re by ourselves reveals where our hearts truly are. The time we devote to personal meditation on the word might seem to others to be mere inactivity. But to the true lover of God and His word, it leads to the deep delight David mentions next: “I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget your word.”
Committing the truths of the Bible to memory…memorizing key portions…meditating on the wisdom, beauty, goodness and eternal value of those truths…all of these take place in the inner privacy of our minds and hearts. It is when we start to forget God’s faithful words that we begin to slip and backslide into sinful habits and activities that pollute our hearts and lives. But “taking heed according to” the word of the Lord points us to the Savior’s fountain for cleansing: the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. His gospel promises not only eternal life in a perfect heaven and earth, but also daily purification from our sins as we learn to walk in His ways.
Father in Heaven, help us to make more time for meditation, so that we may delight in your truth, not forget it. Remind us day by day to confess our sins and seek the cleansing provided by your Son’s precious blood shed on the cross for us. Thank you for loving us and saving us.
Amen
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