How Do You Apply Psalm 119 to the Chrisian Life?

This series unpacks the central theme of Psalm 119 stated in verse 5, “Oh that my ways may be established to keep your statutes.” The psalmist here succinctly implores God’s aid to help him keep God’s Law. Grace, as we learn throughout the psalm, is pivotal to keeping and ultimately delighting in God’s Law. “I shall run the way of your commandments, for you will enlarge my heart.” (Psalm 119:32) The application of the main theme, and the absolute necessity of God’s gracious assistance, is applied to New Testament Christian life, noting both continuity and discontinuity of OT and NT worship. “Grace” and “Law” are not polar opposites in conflict, as some suggest. Rather, the “Law” is an expression of the will of God, and “grace” is the divine power that helps fulfill that Law. The Psalmist loved the Law and all Christians likewise should love the Law. While Christians should never seek to be justified through their keeping of the Law, they are nevertheless called to so abide in Christ that they do in fact fulfill the Law, THROUGH Christ. With respect to discontinuity between the Testaments, the series notes that the unregenerate psalmist, through God’s grace, delighted in God’s Law. Born-again Christians are recipients of Grace Incarnate, and therefore have significantly greater capacity to love God’s Law. The series culminates with the role of affliction in promoting obedience and love for God and His Law. “Before I was afflicted I went astray, now I keep your word.” (Psalm 119:67) The author of Hebrews picked up the same theme, noting that God disciplines and scourges us for our good, that “we might share in His holiness.” (Hebrews 12:10) The application of the central theme of Psalm 119 to Christian life would be the following prayer: “God, empower me with the grace that is in Christ to wholly do your will, loving God and neighbor.”

The Full Series

Keeping the Law, through Christ

March 7, 2025 No Comments

This initial episode answers the question right from Psalm 119:5-6, which I believe summarizes the main theme of the entire psalm. “Oh that my ways may be established to keep your statutes! Then I will not be ashamed when I look upon all your commandments.” Since the question mostly deals with how Psalm 119 should be applied to NT believers, the episode deals with a common misunderstanding of the importance of the Law for Christians. Some claim that Christians are not under the moral law based, based on Christ having fulfilled it for us. While our acceptance in God’s sight is completely based on Christ’s perfect adherence to the Law, coupled with His substitutionary death, Christians are obliged to keep the moral law by abiding in Christ. The sum of the Law is love of God and neighbor, and the New Testament constantly holds believers accountable to observe these commandments THROUGH abiding in Christ. This then is the clearest application of Psalm 119 to NT believers, that God would help establish our ways to abide in Christ, resulting in keeping God’s moral law.

“Lord, Show Us the Way!”

March 7, 2025 No Comments

This episode addresses the means by which God would establish the psalmist’s ways to keep His statutes. (5-6) These verses capture the goal of the entire psalm. On the road to receiving God’s assistance, the psalmist acknowledges his faulty ways and repents: “I consider my ways and turn my feet to your testimonies.” (59) This statement indicates repentance and directs the psalmist’s to God’s testimonies. Throughout Psalm 119 eight expressions of God’s way (way, law, precepts, ordinances, commandments, testimonies, word, statutes) become the central focus of the psalmist. The more the psalmist reflects on God’s testimonies, statutes, etc., the more the way of God is established in his life. In like manner, NT believers are called to consider God’s testimonies, i.e., His kindnesses, and the reflection leads to repentance. (Rom. 2:4) The more we reflect on all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ, the Son Himself Who is the Way, becomes our way of life. God establishes our way as we abide in the Way.

The Mirror of God’s Law

March 7, 2025 No Comments

Citing Psalm 119:104, this episode highlights how God gets us to change our ways. “From your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” God’s precepts, one of the eight expressions of God’s way and law used in Psalm 119, act as a mirror to show us where we have missed the marked. They reveal the psalmist’s false way (and those of others) and he sees the obvious disconnect. Confession and repentance should be the response, and we observe this in Psalm 119:59: “I considered my ways and turned my feet to your testimonies.” God’s law reveals sin, and ideally the response is confession and repentance. The psalmist then reconsiders the law, here God’s testimonies, and sees its inherent beauty. At one point the psalmist’s petitions God: “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things in your law.” (18) This positive encounter with God’s law is largely contingent upon the initial response to God’s law where we confess and repent. The law consequently for NT believers is therefore very useful if we would become more like Christ.

“Graciously Grant Me Your Law”

March 7, 2025 No Comments

The road to looking like Christ involves confession and repentance. While many readily confess their sins, repentance is often more challenging. Psalm 119: 25-32 records the psalmist’s struggle to repent, and the psalmist’s dependence on the grace of God to help him repent. “Remove the false way from me and graciously grant me your law.” (29) The Psalmist implores God to give him a gift he doesn’t deserve, i.e., grace, and that gift is His law. The gift of God’s law here refers to granting the psalmist’s a love for God’s law, whereby he can abandon false ways and repent. This dependence on the grace of God to repent is underscored by verse 32: “I shall run the way of Your commandments, for you will enlarge my heart.” Grace enlarges the psalmist’s heart, enabling him to repent and therefore fulfill God’s law. The application for NT believers struggling to repent is straightforward. Grace doesn’t just release us from the penalty of sin, it also changes us from within, giving us a new heart so we can honor God by obeying Him. We run the way of commandments because He enlarges our heart.

Grace to Repent

March 7, 2025 No Comments

In addition to describing the psalmist’s dependence on the grace of God to repent and embrace God’s way, this episode addresses the underlying struggle to repent. We depend on the grace of God to repent because, based on our fleshly sympathies, we really don’t believe that God’s ways are better. 1 John 5:3 states that God’s commands are not burdensome. This is utter nonsense to the flesh since “commandments” restrict “freedom.” The voice of the flesh understands freedom as the ability to do whatever pleases the flesh without incurring negative consequences. We consequently need God’s grace to enlarge our hearts (32) to consider “commandments” as the path of true freedom. When we come under the commandments we discover true freedom: “I will walk at liberty for I seek your precepts.” (45) And, with the grace of God, we see the destructive nature of “libertine” freedom. The flesh promises the world but conceals a harvest from hell. One application of Psalm 119 to NT Christian life is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, Who applies grace to our lives to assist us in repenting. We discover that God’s commandments are NOT burdensome and that sin amounts to slavery. “Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” (John 8:34)

Grace to Repent

March 7, 2025 No Comments

This recap of the prior weeks’ lessons emphasizes the necessity of God’s grace in repentance. Many believers unfortunately don’t avail themselves of God’s grace to repent, because they’re unaware that God honors sincere prayers that say something like, “Lord, I confess this sin, but I honestly don’t want to repent..can you help me?” The primary casualty of such a prayer is human pride, and God gives grace to the humble honest petitioner who acknowledges that even though he knows about God’s ways, he can’t honestly embrace them as his own. The grace to repent, is consequently God’s answer to the psalmist’s first petition in verse 5: “that my ways be established to keep your statutes.” The psalmist rests his hope on God’s grace to repent in verse 32: “I will run the way of your statutes, for you will enlarge my heart.” God establishes the psalmist’s “ways” by enlarging his heart and helping him to repent.