PSALM 119:57-64 CHETH

I wonder if you noticed a little word that is very important in this

particular section, it is the word keep:
v.57 Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words
v.60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments
v.63 I am a companion of all them that keep thy precepts
When the Bible repeats a certain word or theme it is always good to
explore it further. The Hebrew word the psalmist uses here is a very
common and popular word (rmX, shamar) and it is used over 468 times
in the Old Testament. Its basic meaning is to keep, observe, treasure,
guard, protect. It means to keep something that is a most treasured and
precious possession.

For example, the Garden of Eden was precious to the Lord; He took great
pride in that garden, v. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in
Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground
made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good
for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of
knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the
garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The first
time the Hebrew word shamar is used is in Gen. 2:15 And the LORD God
took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. The
man was given a tremendous responsibility to care for this jewel in Gods
creation; God entrusted Adam with keeping and maintaining the beautiful
Garden of Eden.

Then, when Adam and Eve fell into sin the Lord expelled them from the
Garden and we read in 3:24 he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of
the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to
keep the way of the tree of life. Above all His creation, this garden was
precious to the Lord, He treasured it; it was the duty of first of all Adam
and then the cherubim to zealously keep it.

J ust one more illustration before we look at this word specifically in Ps.
119:57-64. In Gen. 18 when the messengers of God came to speak with
Abraham prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God spoke
with them first and said, v.19 For I know him [Abraham], that he will
command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way
of the LORD, to do justice and judgment.
2
The worship of God was so precious to Abraham that he would
command all those under his influence to honour, observe, treasure,
guard, protect and keep the way of the LORD.

So, that is what the word means and this is the exact same Old
Testament word we have mentioned here three times in these eight
verses. Based, therefore, on these three mentions of the word, we have
three simple and easy-to-remember headings the portion, the path,
and the precepts

THE PORTION v.57 Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I
would keep thy words
In the days of the psalmist, the people of Israel were failing God and
turning to idols. The fact they were turning to the idols was the evidence
they did not really believe J ehovah was adequate to meet their needs.
For example, in the days of Elijah a great drought had come upon the
land. Instead of turning to God the Israelites turned to Baal (the Canaanite
storm God) to find a remedy. But it was God Who sent the rain in
answer to Elijahs prayer.
Another example, sometimes when an outside enemy threatened
to invade their land, the leaders of Israel often ran to the armies of Egypt
for help just as though God was uninterested in their plight and
unconcerned what might happen to them and unable to deliver them.
Now, the psalmist was all too aware of this failing in the spiritual life
of his people, i.e. to turn to God. Speaking very personally, he sang from
his heart the beautiful words, Thou art my portion, O LORD.
This was his COMMITMENT. J ust notice the two personal pronouns, -
Thou my. Lord, I dont need to run anywhere else, Im not interested in
running anywhere else; Thou art all I need for Thou art my portion, O
LORD. Lord, I am committed to You.
It is often the way that people are committed to something only
because it is the best deal they are getting at the time, - if Tesco can offer
us better shopping prices than Sainsburys then we shall do our shopping
in Tescos. The believer, on the other hand, is committed to Christ
regardless of any surrounding circumstances or other considerations
because of what Christ means to them in the very depths of their heart.
This Portion that we possess involves service and diligence just in
the same way as a seed that you plant needs looking after.
3
Indeed, it follows that since Thou art my portion, O Lord I shall keep
thy words. I am making a conscious ongoing effort to keep thy words.
When I have had a bad day, when I have had someone going on and
on at me Thou art my portion, O Lord I shall keep thy words. When it
does not prove particularly easy I shall put all the more into endeavouring
to keep thy words.
Lord, it is what I aim for; I mightnt always achieve it to the degree I
want to but since Thou art my portion, O Lord I shall set out to keep thy
words.
This is the proof you belong to Him, - you treasure what He has to
say to you. You dont just rely upon what He said to you away back in
the past or what He has said to someone else you want to hear today
how His word speak to you.
Knowing God has changed your life, - He is your Portion. If your
life has not changed, and there is no evidence, you do not know God!
That is harsh, but thats the way it is. No change, no conversion, II Cor.
5:17 if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.
But knowing God, believer, has changed your life and He is your
Portion. Your whole life revolves around Him, - that is the way it ought
to be.
It is what Spurgeon called a clean distinction. When you belong to
Christ every part of your being seeks only to do and to say that which
brings to Him glory. On the other hand, if it is only a sham of a
profession it doesnt matter when other things take priority over God.
Why do you love God? I love Him because He first loved me yes,
but why do you love God today now? You love Him today and are
committed to Him because of all that He has come to mean to you, - He
is your Portion and neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38,39).
You hear some people talking about being a committed Christian
tell me, what other kind is there?!
There is commitment, and there is also CONSISTENCY, - the two
must work together. When you go to God He is always the same, - He
never changes. That is the kind of example we need to follow.
You never have to fear if He is going to accept you or not or if
what He wanted yesterday is not what He wants today.
4
No, our God is not like us; some days we are in a better mood than
others, some days we know what we want and other days we dont but
with God there is no such confusion. He is always the same.
Now, when he related that great truth to his own personal faith, the
psalmist knew that when he consistently kept the words of the law of
God the song from his heart would be, Thou art my portion, O LORD,
Commitment, consistent and here also is COMFORT. Notice
very carefully the way the Holy Spirit has formed this opening verse in
the mind of the psalmist; note the order, he did not turn the verse round
and make it to say, I have said that I would keep thy words (therefore) Thou
art my portion, O LORD. Thats the way the Biblically-anaemic Arminian
would word it.
No, when you understand the grace of God you understand the
significance of what happens first.
Here is the comfort of the believer, - the correct order, - Thou art my
portion, O LORD: [therefore] I have said that I would keep thy words. Grace
comes before the gratitude. Lord, the reason I can say that I shall keep
Thy words is because first of all, - and underlying everything else, - Thou
art my portion, O LORD.
When my enemies raise their ugly heads, v.19 I am a stranger in the
earth 21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy
commandments. 23 but thy servant 24 Thy testimonies also are my delight
and my counsellors. That was the comfort he enjoyed in knowing God.
And alongside the comfort the psalmist was thrilled in the enjoyment
of fellowship and COMPANIONSHIP with God.
Notice the tense he used, - it is the present tense, Thou art my portion,
O LORD. At this very moment, today, I am depending upon my Saviour,
Thou art my portion.
I have a Friend in J esus, Hes everything to me, Hes the fairest of ten
thousand to my soul; The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole. He will never, never
leave me, nor yet forsake me here. the companionship of God.
It is so important to grasp the point the Holy Spirit is teaching us
here, Thou art my portion, O LORD, I have Thee already in present
possession therefore will I keep Thy words.
You see, to keep the commandments of God the Holy Spirit needs to
be Resident within. It is the Holy Spirit Who guides you into all truth and
Who teaches you to become more like Christ. The Lord must first be your
Portion before you will be able to keep His words.
5
It is the same desire/longing Paul had, Phil. 3:10 That I may know him.
Without Christ in your life you would neither have the strength nor
the ability nor the interest, to seek after God and to keep His Word.
He has gifted to us a rich spiritual inheritance that is not of this
world, it is all of God. This Portion that we possess is only because of
Him and what follows on from this is that this privilege involves
service and diligence you would not planting a seed and never water it
or care for it. You will want to see it grow and you will do everything you
can to get it to grow.
Indeed, it follows that since Thou art my portion, O Lord I shall keep
thy words. That is the way it works, it is the proof you belong to Him, -
you treasure what He has to say to you and you want your relationship
with Him to flourish. Knowing God has changed your life.
It is not a religion, but a relationship, - J esus never came to this world
to start a religion, that was the furthest things from His mind. The world
had their religions they didnt need another one; but J esus came into
this world and He said, Jn. 6:65 no man can come unto me, except it were
given unto him of my Father. You see, it is not a religion, - it is a
relationship that God began from even before He put into place the
foundations of the worlds.
Take a look at this Ps. 119:51 The proud have had me greatly in
derision: yet have I not declined from thy law 53 Horror hath taken hold upon
me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. In order for these people to
have forsaken the law they have had to have some commitment to it in
the first place so he is speaking about his own people the J ews, who
had forsaken the law, - it was merely a religion to them.
Surely that is why, then, he began by stating the very opposite of the
common spiritual condition of his day when he said, Thou art my portion,
O Lord. Lord, despite how the people seek after a religion and how they
mistreat your Name and Your Word in pursuit of their goals as far as I
am concerned, I thank You for my relationship with You, Thou art [still]
my portion, O Lord.
It was like old J oshua when he told the children of Israel, Josh. 24:15
as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Regardless of how the
people would decide, the Lord was his portion.
Often in the Old Testament the portion refers to a piece of land or an
inheritance The psalmist was saying, the land in which I live is God.
In another place (Ps. 73:26) he said, My flesh and my heart faileth: but God
is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
6
Whoever said that you can be too heavenly-minded to be of any
earthly use did not know what they were talking about. The more
heavenly-minded you become, indeed the more earthly use you will be.
Two folk I led to the Lord loved the church, - they loved coming
along to the meetings and studying Gods Word and being with Gods
people. We also had the misfortune to have two persistently
troublesome ladies in our membership and they told these two recent
converts, Stop going to all the meetings, you are only licking after the
Pastor (they didnt exactly put it like that! It wasnt as polite as that ),
you dont need to go to so many. Needless to say, the commitment of
those two persistently troublesome members was just about nil.
When you belong to Christ, when you recognise what God has done
for you surely it becomes instinctive to say, Yes, Thou art my portion, O
LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.

Conclusion J ust one final thought this morning, - (we shall look at
the other two verses this evening that mentions this word keep), -
going back to how the word was used in the Garden of Eden.
Adam was commanded by God to dress it and to keep it (Gen. 2:15). Of
course, we know how he failed and was expelled.
Bearing in mind that God considers it our duty keep His commands, -
His words, - how am I doing compared to Adam? How are you
doing compared to Adam?
The psalmist was able to say, Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said
that I would keep thy words. He was obedient and faithful to the commands
of Gods word what about you and me?
God was watching Adam and He found Adam not keeping His duties
and we know the consequences he suffered.
You know, it is our duty, our calling, our responsibility before God to
delight in His words and to place such a high value upon them that we
make steps to guard them in our lives.
This means that we do not obey Him out of a grudging
acknowledgment of His Lordship over us but rather we treat His
instructions to us as if they were sweet and precious and thereby guard
them. This is what it is to shamar to keep His words and His ways.
It is all-important to consider these things; that is why we find it
necessary to spend some time looking at them together this morning.
May God find us faithful, and may He be pleased with our efforts in
serving Him. Amen.
7
57 Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words. 58
I entreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy
word. 59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. 60 I
made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. 61 The bands of the
wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law. 62 At midnight I will
rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. 63 I am a
companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. 64 The
earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.

PSALM 119:57-64 CHETH

This morning we highlighted the word that the psalmist uses three times
in this section, it is the word keep:
v.57 Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words
v.60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments
v.63 I am a companion of all them that keep thy precepts

We considered his words in v.57 under the title, The Portion. We are
moving on now to consider the second and the third, under the titles of
The Path and The Precepts.

THE PATH v.60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments
The land the Israelites inherited actually belonged to the Lord, Lev.
25:23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are
strangers and sojourners with me.
Another important fact they needed to remember was that God had
spoken to them very specifically about how they should live in the land;
one of the most important statements He made to them regarding this is
found in Deut. 11:8-17 where He told them in no uncertain terms that it
was v.12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy
God are always upon it.
The deal was that if the people obeyed the terms of the covenant
God would bless both them and their labours and the land.
However, if they turned to idols (- God knew what they were like!)
He would chasten them first in the land, and then in other lands.
If history teaches us anything, it teaches us we never learn from
history Would Israel want to once again suffer the humiliation of
captivity their forefathers suffered in Egypt? No, they would not!
Okay did these leaders of Israel learn then to follow God as they
ought? Once again No, they did not!
8
Loving obedience was the condition for Gods people to receive His
blessing. Lets take that and apply it where it needs to be applied.
The psalmist said, v. 60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy
commandments. Before he came to that place we read, v.59 I thought on my
ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
What he is saying here is that from his head to his toes he was
determined to follow God: I thought (i.e. with my mind) and turned (i.e.
with my feet).
Lets translate this for something meaningful for us today
Everything we have comes from God, - yes, we have worked to achieve
so much, but it is the goodness and the plan of God that is behind
everything we have. We cannot boast in our achievements.
Like with the Israelites, the land is the Lords. All that you and I
have is the Lords, - we are simply stewards of His land. If God would
have willed it we could have been in completely different circumstances
to what we are in today.
We have all the privileges and blessings because God has sovereignly
gifted us with such.
Why am I here this evening and not in a pub in Kirkcaldy
somewhere? Why am I not living in some far-flung place practising an
idolatrous religion? Surely why I am here it is the Lords doing.
Why has the Lord blessed me with a good family and a good lifestyle
instead of the lifestyle many in the world lead today in and out of bad
relationships, drunkenness, drug addicts? Yes, the Lord has blessed
me even as He blessed the children of Israel in the land which He
settled them.
God is so good. Yes, the psalmist said, I thought on my ways and it
is a good thing to often take time and consider all God has done for you, -
yes, of course, at Calvary but also the simple things from day to day.
Where would you be without J esus? Where would you be without
God?
It is as if, - in v.59, - the psalmist is in danger of going the wrong
direction; we dont need to be too surprised about that! Yes, vvs. 57 & 58
are beautiful verses but he is a man, an ordinary person, surrounded by
sinners. It is not too difficult to imagine how easy it is to wander.
In v.59 he said, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy
testimonies. Why would he need to turn his feet unless he was in danger of
starting out in the wrong direction!
9
You see, surely it teaches us on a daily basis to be careful of the
path along which we trod.
Its so easy to wander into bypath meadows and the psalmist knew
it. He made a conscious and deliberate decision, - ruled by his
relationship with God, - to turn his feet to stop travelling along the
road he had just taken a few steps on and to consider again the goodness
and the faithfulness of God.
He didnt dilly-dally, he wasnt full of good intentions of what he
would do tomorrow; he said, I made haste, and delayed not.
I used to have a man who was basically addicted to pornography, he
couldnt seem to help himself tear away from it yes, it was more than
a fascination, it was an addiction. He knew it was wrong but he dilly-
dallyed and it drained him of any spirituality he had.
The psalmist, on the other hand, turned his feet and made haste, and
delayed not to keep thy commandments. Elsewhere, David declared, Ps. 24:4
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in
the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the
LORD, and to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me
in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up
upon a rock.
There is nothing wrong with running away provided you run away
to J esus. A wonderful Saviour is J esus my Lord, A wonderful Saviour to
me; He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock With numberless
blessings each moment He crowns, And filled with His fullness divine, I
sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God For such a Redeemer as mine!
The servants responsibilities and duties is to hear the words of the
Master and to obey them immediately and completely. What a privilege
to own the Lord J esus Christ as our Master
The Path, v.60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

THE PRECEPTS v.63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and
of them that keep thy precepts
What he is saying here is simply this: God is his greatest joy. Surely
we all ought to understand that, - to know God, to love Him, to hear His
voice, to obey His will, to be confident in His leading and guiding, to
know that He is on the Throne
His real presence ought to be more precious to us than anything this
world has to offer.
10
Being with His people ought to be a joy and a privilege. When you
travel to other parts of the world and listen to them worshipping our
Saviour in their own language it is so beautiful.
Here, in our own fellowship we have come from different arts and
parts, different backgrounds and different interests and God has saved us
and brought us together.
We share the Gospel, we share the Saviour of the Gospel, we read
together from his Word and seek to understand it. J ohn wrote in Rev. 20:6,
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: they shall be
priests of God and of Christ.
It is a special Family, - born of God the Holy Spirit. The devil has
eyes on this Family, - he wants to see them falling out and divorcing, he
wants to see them splitting up because together he can do them no
harm, and therefore he tries to divide them.
The psalmist loved the companionship of Gods people, - those who
served the Lord as he did and he loved going out into the countryside
and looking round him with the thought in his heart, My God made all
this! The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy (v.64).
all them that fear thee is a good description of those who love God, for
the holy fear of God ought to mark the people of God.
Isnt it so humbling that in spite of the continual disobedience of
mankind and the ravages of sin that are causing more and more
destruction and pollution in our world, - Gods creation, - the earth is still
full of His loving-kindness, and though we are pilgrims and strangers on
this earth, God is our home (Ps. 90:1 LORD, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations) and we have nothing to fear.
What are you thinking about? I trust you are thinking about all the
privileges God has blessed you with, - He is our tender loving Father. He
has you and I in a Family we dont deserve to be in; yes I am a
companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep [shamar, observe,
treasure, guard and protect] thy precepts.

Conclusion Yes, God is good, He is so good!
The Portion, v.57 Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I
would keep thy words
The Path, v.60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy
commandments
The Precepts,v.63 I am a companion of all them that keep thy
precepts