Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980712.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Nineteen (Aleph) - Getting The Most From Scripture To Enjoy God's Blessings
(Psalm 119:1-8)
  1. Introduction
    1. Unbridled divine blessing in one's life is itself the highest reward one can experience in life.
    2. However, not many people enjoy such unbridled divine blessing, and the question arises, "Why not?!"
    3. Psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm, a long psalm arranged in sections that each emphasize a single Hebrew letter of the alphabet, and each section focuses on God's Word. Section Aleph, Ps. 119:1-8, shows how unbr idled divine blessing comes from taking the most advantage of Scripture as is possible, and just how:
  2. Getting The The Most From Scripture To Enjoy God's Blessings, Psalm 119:1-8.
    1. Twice in this segment, in verses 1 and 2, the psalmist dwells on the depth of divine blessings available to God's people: the word asheray appears in both verses, literally meaning, "Oh, the blessings of . . . "
    2. Having whet the hearer's or reader's appetite for such great, deep divine blessings, the psalmist spends the rest of his time revealing how we obtain these blessings as follows:
      1. God intends that His blessings come to those who interpret His Word with precision, Ps. 119:4.
        1. God's Word was given by God to be observed closely, or precisely, verse 4b.
        2. As the personal pronoun, translated "You" is the first word of verse 4, it emphasizes the fact that God is the One who intended that we interpret His Word precisely, Ps. 119:4a!
      2. However, for God's Word to be interpreted with precision, the hearer or listener must approach Scripture with the following right attitude, Ps. 119:1-3:
        1. God's blessings come to those who have perfect integrity in their lives, Ps. 119:1, 3.
        2. They come to those who also keep His solemn declarations of Scripture with a whole heart, v. 2.
      3. Well, realizing that he often failed in the area of perfect integrity so that it limited his use of Scripture for total blessing, the psalmist prayed that he might have such a pure heart, Ps. 119:5.
      4. He knew that were he to have such uprightness in his attitude, he would not be shamed with a loss of divine blessing, for he would look towards God's Word as his true standard in thought and deed, v. 6
      5. As he would come to learn God's statutes, the psalmist realized that he would thank God, for in this process he would obey Scripture and find total divine blessing, Ps. 119:7.
      6. Accordingly, the psalmist admitted he was short on this proper motivation to heed God, and asked for help with his attitude so as to observe God's decrees for blessing, Ps. 119:8.
Lesson: Enjoying God's unbridled blessing in life comes (a) from heeding His Word, (b) and that takes KNOWING it (c) because one has handled it with precision. (d) However, such precise handling of the Word comes from an (e) understanding heart (f) because that HEART is totally submissive to the Lord so as to discern its truths without bias. (g) However, the truth is that sin in every man's heart blocks his being totally submissive to God, and that undermines his ability to discern its truth well and thus apply it well for full blessing. (h) Thus, the believer needs to s tart with cleansing from sin, not with a high intelligence quotient or expansive Bible education, if he would handle God's Word well so as to enjoy God's full blessing.

Application: To enjoy the full degree of God's blessings in this life, we MUST start with (a) cleansing from sin. That includes first believing on Christ as personal Savior from sin (Jn. 1:11-13 with Col. 1:14) followed by confession of sins per formed that occur following salvation, 1 John 1:9, 8-10. (b) When THIS step is complete, we then read God's Word with a submissive heart, (c) and submission that leads to UNDERSTANDING all of the truth God has for us as we handle Scripture without BIAS. (d) Once we understand all of this truth, we can apply it all fully, and that full application leads to (e) God's being pleased with what we DO. (f) As God is pleased with our lives, He in turn provides us fullness of blessings !