Psalm 119: Nurturing Passion for God
How to Be Bold in Speaking the Gospel
Psalm 119:41-48
This morning we are going to start off in the book of Acts – Acts chapter 16. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Acts 16 is on page 925 in the Bibles we are passing out.
For the past six months the home group leaders have been fasting and praying and crying out to the Lord with a very important question: why are we not seeing more people brought to faith in Christ? We have a lot of strengths here at Mercy Hill – we are strong in the Word of God, strong in living by faith in God’s promises, strong in love for each other and serving each other.
But over the last few years we have not seen many people brought to faith. And yet the book of Acts tells how in the early church people were saved every day. You can see that, for example, in Acts 16:5 –
So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
The reason they increased in numbers every day, was because someone was coming to faith every day. So our passion is not to add numbers of believers. Our passion is to save lost people who, apart from faith in Christ, will face hell forever.
And the early church saw people saved regularly. Which is why our leaders have been fasting and praying and asking God why we are not seeing more people brought to faith.
One answer we are sensing from the Lord is that we need to keep persevering, keep sharing the good news, keep praying. But another answer is that we need more boldness.
So where do we get more boldness? How can we become more bold? That’s the point of our next passage in Psalm 119 – verses 41-48. So let’s turn there. Psalm 119 verses 41-48 is on page 513 in the Bibles we passed out.
As I read through this passage I noticed that the topic is evangelism -- how to be bold in sharing the Gospel with others --
41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me [there’s evangelism], for I trust in your word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth [there’s evangelism], for my hope is in your rules.
44 I will keep your law continually, forever and ever,
45 and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.
46 I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame [there’s bold evangelism],
47 for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
So he’s talking about evangelism. But that’s not where he starts. Look again at where he starts -- in v.41 –
41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
So what is he asking for here? Let’s ask it this way -- What does it mean to have God’s steadfast love and salvation come to you? He can’t be asking for salvation in the sense of being forgiven for his sins and being born-again, because we’ve seen in Psalm 119 that he has already been saved.
And yet here he asks for God’s steadfast love and salvation to come to him. So what is he asking for? We can get a clue from reading verse 41 with verse 42 –
41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word.
So when God’s steadfast love and salvation come to him, the result is that his faith is strengthened, so he has an answer to someone who taunts him.
So when God’s steadfast love and salvation come to you, your faith is strengthened. Which made me think that when he’s asking for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, because that powerfully strengthens our faith.
So I thought I’d check some commentaries to see if anyone else agreed. And sure enough, both Charles Bridges and Charles Spurgeon said that here the psalmist is asking God for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Here’s what Charles Bridges said –
Many, indeed, are satisfied with far too low a standard of spiritual enjoyments. It is comfortless to live at a distance from our Father’s house, when we might be dwelling in the secret of His presence, and rejoicing in the smiles of his love … This blessing is unspeakable. Let your steadfast love – your salvation – come to me, O Lord. (loc 1218)
That’s what the author is asking God for – a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit making real to him God’s steadfast love and salvation. So do you ask for this? Do you understand that God wants to give you times when you don’t just believe in God’s steadfast love – but you experience God’s actual steadfast love? That’s what happens when we ask God for a fresh outpouring of his Spirit.
So that’s what the author is asking God to do. Let your steadfast love come to me. Pour your love into my heart by the Holy Spirit. Make your glory and holiness real to me. Make the Cross and forgiveness real to me. Make heaven and hell real to me.
So that’s what he’s asking God to do. But why?
Why does he ask God for this outpouring of the Spirit? We can see the answer when we read vv.41-42 together –
41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word.
Someone who does not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has been taunting him. He’s been taunting him, and the author has had no answer. This is not because he has not read God’s Word; throughout this psalm it’s clear that he passionately studies God’s Word. No, the reason he has no answer is because the taunts have weakened his faith; they’ve taken away his boldness – so he has had no answer.
So how could be become more bold? By asking for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit! When the Holy Spirit makes God’s glory and holiness real to you – the Cross and forgiveness real to you heaven and hell real to you – you will be bold in speaking. You will have a bold answer for those around you.
So that helped me understand verses 41 and 42. But verse 43 puzzled me --
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules.
Why would we ask God to not take the word from our mouths? Here’s what I think this means. He’s asked God to let his steadfast love and salvation come to him through fresh outpourings of the Spirit. And he knows that when God does this, God will give him boldness so he has an answer – so he can share the Gospel lovingly and boldly. In other words, when God pours his Spirit upon us, one result is that God’s word is put into our mouths.
So then in v.43 he asks – do not take the word utterly from my mouth, which means: don’t stop these outpourings of the Spirit. Keep them coming – otherwise I won’t be bold, I’ll be fearful, and there will be none of your words in my mouth. So v.43 is just another way of praying for the outpouring of the Spirit.
See, God will usually not pour his Spirit upon us unless we seek him with prayer and meditation on God’s Word. If we don’t ask him and seek him – then God will not pour his Spirit on us, our faith will stay weak, we will lack boldness, we will have no answers for anyone, and God’s word will not be in our mouths.
But God wants us to pray for fresh outpourings of the Spirit. That’s why God had the psalmist write this. That’s why Jesus said how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11:13).
So seek God in prayer and the Word, and he will pour his Spirit on you and make the truths of Christianity real to you. And then you will have bold answers to everyone around you, and God’s word will be in your mouth.
And what will result from this outpouring and resulting boldness? The author mentions four results in verses 44-48.
First, we will keep God’s law. You can see that in v.44 --
44 I will keep your law continually, forever and ever,
God’s law called Old Testament saints to tell everyone about God’s saving and forgiving mercy. You can see that, for example, in Psalm 96:3 (p.499) –
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
So God commanded Israel to tell everyone about God’s glory and marvelous works. But that requires boldness. So the author asks God for a fresh outpouring of his steadfast love, because he knows this will strengthen his faith and cause his boldness to grow, so he will have gospel words in his mouth, and will obey God’s law and declare God’s glory among the nations.
And the same will happen to you. When God saves us and secures us in his joy forever – our hearts are broken by the suffering of those around us – especially the thought of eternal suffering. And so every one of us should focus our lives on telling people about Jesus Christ.
That’s why, in the Great Commission of Matthew 28, Jesus Christ commands us to go into the world and make disciples. He calls all of us to center our lives on making disciples. That’s why we are here.
But to do that we need boldness. And we get boldness by seeking fresh outpourings of God’s Spirit. So one result of this is that we will keep God’s law – we will obey the Great Commission.
Second, we will walk in a wide place of God’s presence. You can see that in v.45 --
45 and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.
It’s not easy to figure out what this phrase “wide place” means. I checked the Hebrew, and it means “wide place.” I looked at commentators, and they are puzzled. I think maybe the most likely explanation is that it means that everywhere we walk we will be in that wide place of God’s favor.
Now that does not mean being free from all trials. Notice that the taunting man will still be taunting him. So it does not mean freedom from trials. But remember that this psalm calls the path of obedience the path of walking in God’s ways –because that’s the path where God is – where we will have the sweetest fellowship and communion with him. I think that’s what this verse means.
As we seek regular outpourings of God’s Spirit, and in loving boldness center our lives on making disciples, we will walk in a wide place of God’s presence.
Third, we will speak God’s Word before kings without shame. You can see that in v.46 –
46 I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame.
This is a picture of just how much boldness will be ours as we experience regular outpourings of God’s Spirit – we will even speak about God before kings.
I experienced this back when I was working in real estate to pay the bills while this church got started. Every week all 70 agents from the office would pile into cars and tour recent new listings on the market. And on one of my first tours I ended up in the office manager’s car.
And God gave me boldness. I forget how it came up, but I was able to share with him the good news of Jesus Christ, and how he had saved me, and we had an outstanding drive around the city together.
So as you seek regular outpourings of God’s Spirit, God will give you such boldness that you will be able to share the Gospel with kings, CEO’s, really popular people – everyone.
And then fourth, we will delight in, praise, and meditate on God’s commandments. You can see that in verses 47 and 48
47 for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
Let’s say you are not centering your life around making disciples. If that’s the case, you will have a hard time delighting in, praising, and meditating on God’s Word – because whenever you open God’s Word you will feel the convicting work of the Spirit.
But if you are centering your life around making disciples, then when you open up God’s Word you won’t feel the conviction of the Spirit – you’ll feel the joy of the Spirit. You will meet God in the pages of the Scriptures. You will so encounter God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, that you will delight in God’s commandments, praise God’s commandments, and meditate on God’s commandments.
Questions?
MercyHillChurch, we need more boldness in sharing the Gospel. And the good news is that God will give us more boldness. Now don’t wait to share the Gospel until you feel bold enough. Often the boldness comes as we share.
But do seek a fresh outpouring of the Spirit through prayer and meditation on God’s Word. God will answer. You will experience God’s steadfast love and salvation coming to you. You will experience the Spirit making the truth of the Bible real to you. As a result, your faith will be strengthened, you will be more bold, and you will speak God’s Word to those around you.