Light and Life for Facing Temptation
Psalm 119:105-112
Let’s turn to Psalm 119:105-112. If you need a Bible raise your hand, and we will bring one to you. Psalm 119:105 is found on page 514 in the Bibles we are passing out.
To introduce this passage I’d like you to think about the obstacles faced by the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Racism was deeply entrenched. Hatred was strong. Suspicion was rampant.
So think of how encouraging it would’ve been for the leaders to be marching down the streets of Selma arm in arm, singing “We Shall Overcome.” That of how that would have filled them with strength and motivation.
But think of how different it would have been if, instead of singing “We Shall Overcome,” they sang “We Might Overcome.” That would not have given them much encouragement.
And the same is true with Christians when we face temptation. Think of the temptations you will face in the days and years ahead. So as you think of those temptations, what song do you sing? Do you sing “We Shall Overcome”? Or do you sing “we Might Overcome”?What song are we supposed to sing?
The author of Psalm 119 tells us in versus 105-112. Let’s look at what he says --
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.
107 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your rules.
109 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.
111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.
Let’s start with this question:how does the author describe God’s word? Look again at what he says in verse 105 –
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
The author is saying that, because of our sin, we are in darkness when it comes to how we should live. So imagine that you are hiking on the trail to Paradise Valley. And you know that on the way there is deadly quicksand, swamps filled with alligators, and side trails that could cause you to fall off cliffs. And if that wasn’t bad enough, you are hiking in pitch darkness.
But God’s word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Without God’s word you are in pitch darkness knowing you could step into deadly quicksand, sink into swamps filled with alligators, or fall down steep cliffs. But the good news is that you have God’s word. And opening God’s word is like turning on a flashlight so you can see where you should and should not go.
For example, let’s say there has been some tension between you and your wife. And at work, an attractive woman on your team started flirting with you, and hinted that she’d like to have lunch with you. So you are thinking “what’s the big deal with that? It’s just a harmless lunch. And besides, it would be nice to have a woman appreciate me for a change.”
At that moment you are in pitch darkness and heading toward an alligator-filled swamp that can destroy your marriage, and your spiritual life. But God’s word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Think of what happens when you read Malachi 2:15 -- “let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.” And suddenly the light goes on, you see the alligator-filled swamp, and you turn away.
So lift up your Bible, and look at it. Without this book, you are in pitch darkness and will be deceived and destroyed by sin. But with this book you have light which will show you which path leads to sin, and which path leads to Paradise Valley.
That’s the point of verse 105. So how does that truth impact him? Look at what he says in verse 106 --
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.
Because this book shows which path leads to sin and which path leads to Paradise Valley, he makes a solemn commitment before God to follow this book. It’s not that he’s promising God to follow this book; but he’s committing to God to follow this book.
And I think that is something we should all do, as long as we understand what that does not mean.
Making this commitment does not mean saying we will be saved by our obedience. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach that we are saved, not by works, but by faith alone.
And now that Christ has come, we see this even more clearly, because we see that he lived the perfect life we should have lived, and that he was punished with the punishment we should have received, and that by trusting him we are connected to all the benefits of his life and his death.
So when we commit to obeying God we should not think that means we will be saved by obeying God
Also, making this commitment does not mean saying we will be perfectly sinless. The psalmist knew that he had been saved by grace through faith, and that sin’s power had been broken in him, but he also knew he still had indwelling sin, and that he would not be entirely free from sin until heaven.
So he was not promising perfect sinlessness. But he was promising to pursue sinlessness. Which means he is committed to doing all he can to obey, and that when he sins, he will not rationalize or justify it, but broken-heartedly confess it, and start battling sin once again.
So when we say to God “I promise to obey your word,” we are not saying we will be saved by our obedience, because we know we are saved by faith alone; nor are we promising perfect sinlessness; but we are committing to pursue sinlessness.
But as I thought about this it raised another question: how can he make this commitment when he knows his sinfulness? We all know how easily we can sin, and turn from prayer, or start to gossip, or become self-righteous. And the Psalmist knew this, too. So how can we commit to obeying God?
I believe the author answers that question in the next two verses, verses 107 and 108 --
107 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your rules.
I struggled to understand what role these two verses have in these eight verses. I would encourage you to do some more thinking about this, and maybe talk about it as a home group. But here’s what I think is going on.
In verse 107 the author talks about times when he is severely afflicted, which includes times when he faces huge temptation. So he is saying that when he is severely tempted, he knows that he can cry out to God to give him life. He can ask God to strengthen his faith, to break sin’s power, to so satisfy him in God that he doesn’t want to sin.
And he knows that when he asks God to do this, God will. And then in verse 108 he says that when God gives this spiritual life he will respond with a free will offering of praise to God, since God enabled him to overcome temptation. But even then, he still does not rely on his own abilities to keep him obedient. Which is why at the end of verse 108, he prays “teach me your rules,” which means help me keep understanding and obeying your rules.
So the reason he can commit to obeying God’s commands is not because of his own spiritual strength. It’s because he knows that God has promised to give him life when he is severely tempted, and that this life will enable him to overcome the temptation.
Now that’s not crystal clear from these two verses. So let me give you another verse which teaches the same truth even more clearly. Turn to 1 Corinthians 10:13 (957). Here Paul gives a very encouraging truth about every temptation we will ever face.
Look at what he says –
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Picture a conveyor belt of temptations coming your way. At the far end of the conveyor belt is Satan, loading all kinds of different temptations onto the conveyor belt. But between you and Satan stands God.
And because you are trusting in Jesus Christ, and your salvation has been secured in him, God is doing something very encouraging for you. He looks at every temptation sent your way by Satan, and removes any that would be too much for your God-given strength. God looks at one and says “that one would not be too much for his God-given strength,” and lets it go on, but he looks at the next one and says “that one would be too much,” and he takes it from the conveyor belt.
Not only that, but whenever God allows a temptation to come to you, he also attaches to it a special way of escape by which you can endure it.
So God will only let you face temptations that you by his grace will be able to overcome. Which means you will never face a temptation that you by God’s grace can’t overcome.
Now with that in mind let’s turn back to Psalm 119. I think that’s the point of verses 107 and 108. The reason the author can promise to pursue obedience, is because he knows that by God’s grace every temptation he faces can be overcome as he calls upon God and God gives him spiritual life.
This is crucial for us to understand. I would guess that some of you have a defeatist outlook when it comes to battling sin. When temptation arises, some of you focus only on your indwelling sin, and conclude that this temptation will probably defeat you.
And it is true that you have indwelling sin. But that’s not the only truth we should focus on when we are tempted. We should also focus on the truth that God will help us overcome every temptation. That by God’s grace, we never need to be defeated by temptation. That by God’s grace, we will always be able to obey. And that because of God’s grace in Christ, if we are defeated, and do sin, then through Jesus we can come back and start battling again.
So here’s the picture: we are on the trail to Paradise Valley, but there’s treacherous quicksand, alligator-filled swamps, side trails that go off over cliffs. And sin brings pitch darkness so we can’t see which way to go.
But God gives us two precious gifts.
One is the light of his word. Whenever we open God’s word we will be able to see which path is leading to quicksand, to alligator-filled swamps, or to a cliff -- and which path is leading to Paradise Valley.
But that’s not all that God gives us. God also promises that when we are tempted if we will cry out to him he will always give us spiritual life so we can overcome the temptation and get back on the trail to Paradise Valley.
And these precious gifts are ours through Jesus Christ: LIGHT that dispels the darkness of sin, and LIFE that overcomes the power of sin.
So how does this truth affect him? It makes him passionate about obeying God’s word. That’s the point of verses 109-112. Look at what he says --
109 I hold my life in my hand continually [that is, my life is constantly in danger], but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.
111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.
Can you hear how passionate he is about obeying God’s word?
See, if we think we can’t be sure what God wants us to do, or if we think we won’t have the power to do it, we will not be passionate about obeying God’s word.
But when we know that God’s Word will always show us the path to Paradise Valley, and that God will always give us the spiritual life we need to defeat temptation -- we will be passionate about obeying!
What does this mean for us? I opened up this morning asking what song you sang when you face temptation. I would guess many of you think the biblical song to sing is “We Might Overcome.”
But since God promises to give us spiritual life when we are tempted, spiritual life which will enable us to overcome every temptation -- the more biblical song would be “We Shall Overcome.”
So understand what God has promised to do for you whenever you face temptation, and start singing “We Shall Overcome.”