Sermon entitled "An Inspired Hope". Primary Text: Psalm 119:73-80. In series "Psalms of Hope."
From http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gsmunro/resource.htm
G.S. Munro. Panania-Milperra Anglican Church, Sunday 16th January, 2000.

There are a lot of similarities between today's passage and Psalm 33 that we looked at last week.
- They both emphasize God as our creator.
- They emphasize hope in His Word
- They mention His unfailing love
- Both talk about the fear of the Lord and rejoicing in Him
- And both encourage trust in the Lord despite affliction (v.75)

Actually today we are looking at just part of a Psalm. Psalm 119 is the longest of all the Psalms. It is really 22 mini-psalms, each one linked to a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The verses in the mini-psalm we're looking at today all start with the Hebrew letter yodh, our 'y' sound. It is the same letter that starts the word for God's name, yahweh.

Our topical theme throughout January is hope, and it's interesting that every time Psalm 119 uses the word hope it connects it with God's Word.
Listen to these verses from throughout the Psalm:

First, verse 43: Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth,
for I have put my hope in your laws.

Then verse 49.
Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.

Verse 74. May those who fear you rejoice when they see me,
for I have put my hope in your word.

Verse 81. My soul faints with longing for your salvation,
but I have put my hope in your word.

Verse 114. You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.

Verse 147. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.

I have put my hope in your word. The Psalm repeats that line time after time.
What does it mean to put your hope in God's Word?

The first thing it must mean is that you have a personal relationship of trust with the Lord.
This is a prayer. It is an intensely personal prayer.
The Word of God, and our hope in it, is not something academic and intellectual. It is relational and personal and powerful in our lives.

It means more than just believing the bible is historically accurate and reliable.
It means more than just listening to sermons and storing up interesting academic information about an ancient book. It even means more than believing that the bible is inspired.

What can we say about the kind of person who prays the kind of prayer these verses represent?
They are humble and not arrogant.
They desire to know God's will and do it, not to rebel against it.
They want more than anything to honour God with their lives.
They fear and respect God and his law. They see His law as a positive thing, not a negative restriction. A law that gives life.
Above all, they have put their hope in His Word. The New Testament tells us, in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "all scripture is inspired by God." That is why this sermon is entitled 'An Inspired Hope' - because our Hope is founded on the inspired Word of God. That is the aspect of Christian Hope I want us to focus on today. Hope can come only from God's true and life-giving Word. And in doing that I want us to ask ourselves, "do we have the kind of relationship with God that the Psalmist had?" A relationship of trust and dependence. Is your HOPE in God's Word, and do your attitudes and lifestyle show it?

We see the Psalmist's relationship with God come out in things like what he says in verses 73 and 75: Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.
I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Not only does he acknowlege God as his maker, not only does he believe God is righteous in his laws, but he also trusts God, even when it seems that God is afflicting him. It's like the child who trusts his mother when she tells him it'll be okay when he has to have a needle at the doctor's. He goes through the pain because his mother assures him that it's what's best for him in the end, and she is also there to comfort him when it hurts. That's the kind of relationship the true believer has with God. It's like Job, who proclaimed, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him!" The Psalmist says, "…in faithfulness you have afflicted me." Proverbs tells us, "faithful are the wounds of a friend," and God is much more to us than a friend. If we are his, then we are totally his, and there is nothing that can separate us from his love. We can continue to hope in him, even if he seems to bring disaster after disaster upon us. We know that whatever happens he has our best interests at heart.

Do you have a relationship with the Lord of trust and hope like that? And do you have a relationship with his people like the one the Psalmist enjoys here? Look at verses 74 and 79.
74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.
79 May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes.

Do God's people rejoice when they see you, because you are a fellow believer and are known as one who trusts in God's Word no matter what the circumstances? Isn't it encouraging when we see others persevering under pressure and still acknowleging God as their Lord and still trusting in his Word? That's why the Apostle Paul urges to "do everything without complaining or grumbling."
Are you known as one who has put their hope in God's word? Do God's people rejoice when they see you?

Verse 79 says something about our mutual responsibility to one another as believers. 'May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes.' He is praying for the mutual support and encouragement of God's people. When he talks about them turning to him, I think it's a two way thing - he means they turn to him for fellowship and advice and instruction in God's word, and also to give the same back to him. They turn to him both for support and in order to give support. They are on his side.

You are not an island. There's no such thing as a solo Christian. We are part of the fellowship of God's people. What priority does that fellowship have in your life? Are you one that God's people can turn to, both to receive and to give support and encouragement in the faith?

There are really only two types of people. There are those who follow only their fallen nature, who are simply children of Adam. And there are those who have been born anew into a new nature, the nature of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. If you are alive to God, then you desire to act in accordance with the new nature, the nature that goes against the old Adam nature.

Look at how the Psalmist's attitudes and actions are a complete contrast to those of Adam and Eve when they first rebelled in the Garden.

The Psalmist begins, "Your hands made me and formed me."
He emphasizes that God is his creator, just as he formed the first man Adam.
Like Adam, he knows about God's commands.
But unlike Adam, who knew God's command and did not obey it, the Psalmists prays,
"give me understanding to learn your commands," and "may my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame."
He desires to be humble, and to accept God's laws without rebelling in arrogance like Adam and Eve did, when they thought they knew better than God.
He says that he knows God's laws are righteous. He says God's law is his delight.
He says he wants to meditate on God's precepts. He wants to think about God's law, God's Word to him. Adam and Eve didn't do that. If they had considered God's nature, his love and faithfulness, like the Psalmist does here, they would have realised that the serpent was lying when he convinced them that God's command was burdensome. He persuaded them that God did not have their best interests at heart by prohibiting them from the fruit of the tree of the knowlege of good and evil. And they did not meditate on God's law. They did not sit down and work out why it was good for them. They did not think about how all-powerful, all wise and all loving their Creator was. Instead their focus was on their desire to be free agents, to decide what was best for themselves, to assert their rights over God to run their lives their own way. Our Psalmist is not like that. He humbly seeks God's will for his life, and he knows that will is good and loving, and he knows that it is found in God's Word, his torah, his instruction, his law. He knows that because God is our creator then he has the right to tell us what is best for us.
"Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands."

In each verse of verses 73 to 80, the Psalmist mentions God's Word in some way. Look at the words he uses in each verse to describe God's Word.

In verse 73 he calls it 'your commands'.
74 your word.
75 your laws.
76 your promise.
77 your law.
78 your precepts.
79 your statutes.
80 your decrees.

Each verse is about God's Word. And what it adds up to is that our only sure hope for life and eternity is in God's Word. I have put my hope in your word. That means his entire hope is in God's word and God's word alone. Is that where your only hope is? Or are trying to have a bet both ways? One foot in heaven and one foot in the world?

Do you remember Peter's response in John chapter 6, when people were leaving Jesus because he was teaching things they didn't like? He said, "Where have we to go - you have the words of eternal life." Only the full revelation of God in Jesus can give us the hope we need.

Do you believe the bible? Do you believe it is true and inspired? Do you take God at His Word? If you don't then you cannot have a sure foundation for Hope. God's Word, and His Word alone, must determine what we will believe, what we will commit ourselves to, how we should think and act in this world. If you believe that, then you will want to give yourself the greatest opportunity to learn and understand God's word. Are you doing that? If you want to be growing as a Christian, are you maximising the time available to you in fellowshipping with His people, hearing his word read and explained and applied, reading it yourself, meditating on it, thinking about the implications of God's word for each day? At the start of this new year it's a good time to re-evaluate your lifestyle and make any changes that might be necessary. In the bulletin today are some practical suggestions for how you might increase your exposure to God's word. As you plan the shape of your life over this coming year, what part will God's word play in it? Will it be the basis for all your hope?
Will you pray with the Psalmist,
"May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word."