Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our final devotional time in Psalm 119. I'm Pastor Jason Van Bemmel from Forest Hill Presbyterian Church. It is good to be with you on this Friday morning. We are going to be looking at the gospel in Psalm 119 as we focus on the word that is translated either word or promise. And of all the words for God's word that are used in Psalm 119, this one speaks most clearly of how God reveals himself and his plans and purposes and his actions to us. Many of the words talk about what God requires of us, what standard God sets for us, what advice God gives to us, but this speaks clearly of God's word about himself and about his own actions. his own promised redemption of his people. So we're going to be focusing on that this morning. But first we're going to open in prayer and we're going to pray specifically for Mike. One of our most faithful participants in these morning devotionals has been Mike and Gail, and Mike is going in right now for knee replacement surgery. It's scheduled for 8.30, so it's 8.33 right now. So we're going to stop, and as we open in prayer, we're going to pray for Mike and for this surgery. So let's pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for another day of life. We thank you for your faithfulness, that you are in control, that you are the sovereign one, and that you are unfailing. Unfailing, Father. In your love for us, in your faithfulness to us, in your glory over us, Father, in your redemption of us, you are unfailing. And we love you. And we praise you. And we pray that you would be with us today as we dig into Psalm 119. Would your Holy Spirit please write your word upon our hearts. And Father, we pray for Mike as he's in surgery or going into surgery right now for his second knee replacement operation. We pray that you would guide the hands of the surgeon. We pray that you would bless and keep the medical staff as they care for him. We pray that you would sustain and strengthen Mike through this surgery and bring him out, Father, with a successful outcome. Let everything go well. And we pray, Father, that this will be a blessing to him for many years to come. We pray for Gail, that you would give her your peace, that you would uphold and strengthen her. Father, we do continue to pray for Kate's father, who is struggling with very severe COVID. And we pray, Father, for healing, for mercy, for you to rescue his life, Father, and restore him to his family. We ask for these things, Father, for your mercies are new every morning. And so we come to you in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen. Okay, Psalm 119. Let's go ahead and read the next stanza from the ones that we've been reading. Again, we're not going to be reading the whole psalm. It just is too long for this particular context, but I hope you've read it this week. I hope you've taken my encouragement to heart and that you have read it this week. Here's Psalm 119, verses 33 to 40. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and do not give me to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things, and give me life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise that you may be feared. Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. Behold, I long for your precepts. In your righteousness give me life. Amen. And that's a stanza that you could just pray every morning. You could just straight pray that as I was even praying it in my own heart as I was reading it out loud. This is something that we all need, right? This is a longing to live a life that is in keeping with God's word, to live a life that is pleasing to God because of his grace. And notice we have the word promise. in this stanza, confirm to your servant your promise that you may be feared. This verse reminds me of Psalm 130 that says, if you, O Lord, kept account of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. There is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. And here it is, confirm to your servant your promise that you may be feared. So promise, when it's translated that way, it's this word, Debar, which means word or promise. And it speaks of what God does for us, not of what God requires of us. Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, what do the scriptures principally teach? And the answer is that the scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. And so it's been said since Martin Luther in the Reformed tradition, it's been said that you can take all of scripture And you can divide it into these two main categories of law and gospel. Law speaks of what God requires of man, but gospel speaks of what man is to believe concerning God. Even God's revelation of his own character, when he speaks about who he is, I am the Lord, gracious and merciful, showing steadfast love to thousands, right? That is gospel, because God is the gospel, as the famous book title from John Piper says. When we get to Psalm 119, statutes, commandments, even judgments, law, those primarily speak about what God requires of us, what God is asking of us. And it's good, it's wonderful. We saw that on Wednesday, how good and wonderful and true and beneficial God's law is to us. When God requires something of us, it is for our good and for his glory. But promise speaks of what God is doing for us. It's the gospel in Psalm 119. It shows to us what God has promised to do. And so here, how is it that we are truly going to fear the Lord? Right? There's a question to ask yourself. The Bible calls us to walk, to live in the fear of the Lord. Now, the fear of the Lord is not a servile terror of a tyrannical master, but rather it is a loving awe and a holy trembling in the presence of one who is perfect and who loves us. It's a trust. as well as a trembling, a trembling trust, you might say, in awe of God's holiness and in confidence of God's love. How in the world are we going to live and walk in the fear of the Lord? Well, it is as he confirms to us his promise. It's not as we get better at keeping his law, but it is as he confirms to us his promise. So, what does Psalm 119 say about God's promise? Well, the promise of God is seen to be our source of life and hope. Repeatedly throughout Psalm 119, having life is associated with God's promise, and having hope is connected to God's promise. Verse 41, let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. Notice, God's salvation doesn't come to us according to our obedience. Here's the gospel right here in verse 41 of Psalm 119. Let your chesed, let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord. Your salvation, there's the name of Jesus, right? Yeshua, your salvation, according to your promise. So if you heard that I was going to be doing the gospel in Psalm 119 and you wondered, where is the gospel in Psalm 119? Psalm 119 verse 141 as a prayer is, is the gospel. God's chesed, God's steadfast love comes to us, His salvation, His Yeshua comes to us according to His promise. Boy, that is wonderful. It's not about what we can do for God. It's about what God has done for us. It's not about how well we can perform according to His law. It's about what He has promised according to His unfailing covenantal loyalty to us. This is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life. Have you been through any affliction? It's been a hard year. And 2021 didn't really start off any better than 2020 ended, right? It's been a hard week for many reasons. And affliction teaches us not to rely on ourselves, but to rely on God. It's in affliction. What is the comfort in our affliction? That God's promise gives us life. Verse 116, uphold me according to your promise that I may live. And let me not be put to shame in my hope. Again, my life and my hope, my upholding is according to God's promise. And verse 154, plead my cause and redeem me. Give me life according to your promise. Again, here's the gospel. God redeems us, redemption. to give us life. He gives us life. He buys us back from our slavery to sin, from our subjection to death, from the wrath. He buys us back in redemption and gives us life according to what? Not according to our goodness, not according to our obedience, not according to his law, but according to his promise. This is the gospel and this is wonderful. I entreat your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me according to your promise. So God's grace comes to us according to his promise and his steadfast love comforts us according to his promise. Let your mercy come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight." Now, we're still delighting in the law of God because the law of God shows us the character of God and the goodwill of God for our lives. Psalm 119 helps us to not set law and gospel against each other. Sometimes within the Reformed tradition, we can say all of the Bible is either law or gospel, and law is the part that we fail to do, and so I don't really like it, and gospel is the part that God does for us, and that's wonderful, and so I love it. And that's not what psalm 119 does psalm 119 says. Oh how I love your law It says even right here. Your law is my delight And yet Promise The law is powerless without the promise of god. The law is only condemning without the promise of god, but the law and the promise together is the power of God for our salvation. We are saved by promise. We are saved by steadfast love. We are saved by mercy and grace, not by anything we do. But then God causes us, from the heart, to delight in his law. that we might live a life that is fruitful, that is blessed, that is in keeping with the character of God, that is a good life. The best life is walking in the footsteps of God's law, empowered by, kept by, sustained by, saved by His promise, His mercy. And the psalmist is thankful for God's promise. Your promise is well tried and your servant loves it. In verse 147, 148, I rise before dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words. This is that same word that's translated promised. I rise before dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words or even in your promises. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night that I may meditate on your promise. Psalm 119 calls us to meditate both on the law of God and on the promise of God. In other words, on the whole Word of God. The entirety of God's Word is to be our delight and our meditation. How does Psalm 119 end? Verses 169 to 176. Let my cry come before you, O Lord. Give me understanding according to your word. Let my plea come before you. Deliver me according to your word. Again, this is that same word we've been looking at. Could be translated promise. It's sometimes translated word. My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right. Let your hand be ready to help me. And the right hand of the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ. Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, Yeshua. I long for your salvation, O Lord. and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. Amen. What a wonderful way to end this prayer. There's an honest confession. As much as the psalmist says he loves God's law, he delights in God's law. He affirms that God's law is right. He ends with this final confession. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget you. I haven't forgotten what's true and right. I know and I delight in it. But in my heart, in my life, I see that I go astray. All we like sheep have gone astray, Isaiah 53 tells us. But the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. And that's the hope that we can freely confess to God, yes, your law is right. Yes, your law is good. And yes, I've gone astray. But you will seek me out and you will save me because of your promise, because of your gospel. Jesus said he leaves the 99 to go and seek the sheep that has gone astray. Let's pray to him now. Oh, Lord Jesus, we thank you, the good shepherd, for seeking us when we were astray and for continuing to seek us whenever we go astray. Our hope is only in your continual seeking of us and saving of us. Oh, Holy Spirit, keep us in your will, delighting in your word. Oh, Father, thank you for the gift of your Son. The fulfillment of your promise, the embodiment of your salvation, the yes and amen of everything you have ever promised to do for your people is your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Father, be with us today. Keep us and guide us and bless us. Again, please be with Mike in this surgery. Heal him and strengthen him and make the surgery successful. Please be with Kate's father. Bring him healing and please restore him to his family. Be with little Rena as she battles cancer. May it be gone from her body by your powerful hand to bless her and her family. Keep us all in your loving care. We do pray for our country as well as our hearts are heavy. during this time of transition of power and We pray for peace, we pray for unity, we pray for your church to be the church and to shine the light of the truth into the darkness of men's hearts and our world. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, amen. On Monday, we will plan to regather and look at Psalm 120. If you're able to join us on Sunday for worship, we'll be out at the Deer Creek Overlook. We will be sharing in the Lord's Supper this Sunday, so I hope to see you there. Have a blessed day in the Lord.