MAKE ME GO IN THE PATH...
January 16, 2005 AM
Sermon Outline
PS 119:35
INTRO: Children are playing on the playground. A disagreement arises, and one child demands that another do something. The second child might respond, You and who else is going to make me? If that does not sound familiar to you, I can only tell you that it was heard from time to time on the playground of Huff Elementary school in San Antonio. The words make me may sound to our modern ears to be rebellious. They may sound like stubborn independence. In our text, however, those words are the beginning of a brief prayer. In our text those words are far from rebellion and stubborn independence. Indeed, they are words signaling utter dependence!
I. MAKE ME
A. Clearly, this is a plea for Gods help
1. God will not force us to walk in His way ... the privilege of choice is ours
2. thus, the psalmist is pleading for Gods help
B. What is the problem here?
1. Mt 26:41 - weak flesh ... willing spirit - thus, a very real difficulty
2. Mk 9:24 - an undeniable struggle for a growing faith
3. Lk 17:3-5 - in the face of demands of discipleship our human nature is at a great disadvantage ... only a growing faith can meet the demands!
4. Rom 7:22,23 - how graphically this internal struggle is expressed
5. Gal 5:16,17 - here is, again, this struggle which probably plagues many
6. so, people who truly want to live lives which will be pleasing to God find themselves enmeshed in the struggle between flesh and Spirit
7. no wonder the psalmists plea!
C. Some thoughts in response to the problem...
1. 2 Cor 8:8,9 - an appeal to the gratitude of our hearts
2. 2 Cor 5:14,15 - it is our love for Him Who has done so much for us that constrains us to live for and to Him
3. Phil 2:5-8 - the power of His example joined with an appeal to us based on the magnificence of His sacrifice
4. Phil 2:13 with 1 Thes 2:13 - the power of Gods working in us by means of His word - as the apostle Paul noted, the gospel is Gods power
5. as I have noted in other prayers of the psalmist, there is a recognition of a real need in his life - praying concerning that need creates an environment for Gods word to work in his (our) life
II. TO GO
A. Relationship with God is never passive
1. Ex 14:13-15 - Moses answer? stand still - Gods answer? go forward
2. reading the scriptures, you find that Gods servants were busy doing
3. true, God was interacting with/in their lives, but waiting, like a little bird with its mouth open for mother to feed, was not, is not our role
B. Compare Mt 11:28,29 with Mt 16:24
1. notice come unto and come after
2. even in Mt 11:28,29 there are yoke and the learning
3. there is a life of followship involved
III. IN THE PATH OF THY COMMANDMENTS
A. The course in which the psalmist wants to go is very specific
1. he certainly does not want to be a spiritual wanderer ... drifter
2. and a great many people these days are exactly that!
3. the psalmist wants to go in the path of thy commandments
B. Perhaps this is why the struggle is so real, so difficult
1. there must be a submission to the will and specific way of God
2. and submission to the will of another is very difficult for human beings!
3. the problem is to bring our desires into harmony with His desires is such a way that His desires are our desires - so, 1 Pet 4:1,2
C. 1 Jno 2:3,4 - And hereby we do know that we know him, if...
1. fact: we cannot walk with God while walking in paths of life other than His
2. in the same epistle John further notes: 1 Jno 5:2,3
3. remember what Jesus said at Mt 16:24? If any man will come after me, let him deny himself... - we cannot go in the path of His commandments until we can deny ourselves!
D. Jno 12:49,50 - ...his commandment is life everlasting...
1. here is why we should pray for Gods help!
2. our eternal future depends on our embracing and keeping His commandments!
3. as difficult as the struggle may be, it is a struggle in which we must engage - Gods will simply must become our will
CLOSE: Gods commandments are the psalmists delight. But the flesh is so weak!
Cecil A. Hutson
January 16, 2005