Text: Psalm 119:33-40
Fifth stanza of Psalm 119 – This lesson focuses on how God revives men. As should be expected in this psalm, the psalmist emphasizes the place of God’s word – and the righteousness that comes by following it – in this revival.
Revival Comes by Following the Way of Righteousness (v. 37, 40)
- What does it mean to be revived? … “quicken” (KJV); to make alive
- God has made revival possible (v. 37) – makes us alive through Christ (Ephesians 2:5)
- God gave the means by which we can be revived (v. 37) – “The Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6); operates through the word (John 6:63; Ephesians 6:17)
- We must take advantage of the opportunity to be revived (v. 40) – we must practice righteousness (1 John 3:7)
We Must Learn the Way of God’s Statutes (v. 37, 40, 33-34)
- “Revive me in Your ways” (v. 37) – we cannot know God’s ways but through His word (1 Corinthians 2:11)
- “Revive me through Your righteousness” (v. 40) – we cannot know what is right but through His word (2 Timothy 3:16)
- “Teach me, O Lord” (v. 33) – go to God; obviously we can learn from others (Hebrews 13:7), but we must test all things by His word (Hebrews 13:9; Acts 17:11)
- “Give me understanding” (v. 34) – we can understand what God has revealed (Ephesians 3:4; 5:17)
We Must Learn with the Intention to Obey (v. 33-35)
- Learning “the way of [God’s] statutes” (v. 33) is not merely for academic purposes – many know a lot about the Bible, but it is useless to them (2 Timothy 3:7); even the devil knew Scripture (Matthew 4:5-6)
- While knowledge and belief are essential (Hosea 4:6; John 8:24), judgment day is not going to involve a written exam – judged by our deeds (2 Corinthians 5:10)
- Learn the word in order to observe it (v. 33-34) – hearing leads to faith, which leads to obedience (Romans 10:17; 1:5)
- Obey His commandments (v. 35) – without knowledge and obedience, we are lost (2 Thessalonians 1:8)
We Must Value God’s Word Over Temporal Things (v. 36-37)
- To be revived, we need to do it the right way – obedient response to the word; not emotionalism
- But in avoiding false “spirituality,” we also need to avoid carnality (Romans 8:6-7)
- Choose God’s word over “dishonest gain” (v. 36) – covetousness; this is idolatry (Colossians 3:5)
- Choose God’s word over “vanity” (v. 37) – everything under the sun is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3; 12:7); so fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13) because this is the path to eternal life (1 John 2:17)
Choose Reverence Over Reproach (v. 38-39)
- We must choose between two paths in life (cf. Matthew 7:13-14) – David provides another way of looking at it here
- Choose the path of reverence for God (v. 38) – choose what will honor God
- Avoid the path of reproach (v. 39) – that which is shameful; we would be embarrassed if it was discovered
Conclusion
- God has the power to revive us today – but it will not be through emotionalism falsely attributed to the Spirit
- It will be done through His word as we obey it, so that we are revived through righteousness
