Be Ready to Give an Answer

The best apologetic and defense of our Christian faith is a transformed life that speaks the truth in love (Eph 4:15). Our daily obedience and surrender to the lordship of Christ and his Word powerfully demonstrate the reality of our faith.

Verses 44-48 are filled with “I” statements, as the psalmist pledges his loyalty to the Lord through obedience to the Word of God. He begins by declaring in verse 44, “I will always obey your instruction.” And as if that were not enough, he adds, “forever and ever.” He pledges to obey the Lord’s Word always and forever.

Verse 45, as Ross notes, “adds to this the expectation of living at liberty when the Lord fulfills his Word and because the psalmist is faithful” (Psalms, 505). This is expressed in the idiomatic phrase, “I will walk freely in an open place.” Such liberty and freedom are his because “I study your precepts.” Study and apply God’s Word to be set free, the psalmist encourages. You are not set free to do what you want but free to do what you ought! Doing the will of God is always the way of true and real freedom. God’s Word does not restrict your lifestyle; it liberates it for God’s glory and our good. Thus Jesus reminds us in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Such truth is too wonderful to keep to ourselves. The psalmist declares in verse 46, “I will speak of your decrees before kings and not be ashamed.” With unhindered boldness we speak truth to those in power, recounting the great acts and faithfulness of our God. When I read this verse, I think of Jesus in Isaiah 52:15—“Kings will shut their mouths because of him”—and of the Gospels (cf. John 18:28-40; 19:9-16). I think of Daniel. I think of Paul in Acts. Speaking truth to power is our responsibility. It is also our privilege.

I Will Love God’s Word and Meditate on It Continually

Psalm 119:47-48

Our stanza closes with our author proclaiming his “delight in and love for God’s word” (Ross, Psalms, 506). God’s Word is not a burden; it is a blessing. So the psalmist sings, “I delight in your commands, which I love.” The verb tense indicates a present and continuing delight in God’s commands. He enjoys the Word.

He also loves the Word—something he declares twice. As tangible evidence of this, he will do two things, one outward and one inward. First, he will lift his hands toward the commands he loves. He will visibly testify for all to see his love for God and his Word. Second, he will meditate on God’s Word, here referred to as God’s “statutes.” Whatever goes deepest into the heart goes out widest to the world. Boldness in witnessing flows from a deeply ingrained (i.e., through meditation) love and delight in God and his Word. Truth moves from the head to the heart; then it moves out to the mouth and even to the hands. The Word of God has captured the whole man, set him free, and given him a liberty in life that cannot be contained. When we delight in God’s Word, love God’s Word, and obey God’s Word, sharing its message comes naturally. We cannot help ourselves. We must speak. We cannot remain silent.

On April 18, 1521, the great Reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) stood before Emperor Charles V and an examination council at the Diet of Worms. Challenged to retract and recant his writings, Luther boldly and famously replied,

Since your most serene majesty and your high mightiness require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear to me as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning—unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted—and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. May God help me. Amen. (Luther quoted in Boice, Living, 60)

Luther chose to obey Psalm 119:46-48. He knew God would not fail to keep his promises.

Conclusion

Spurgeon wisely says,

There are three sorts of blasphemies of the godly—the devils, heretics and slanderers. The devil must be answered by the internal word of humility; heretics by the external word of wisdom; slanderers by the active word of a good life. (Treasury, 232)

To say it another way, we must be Psalm 119 kind of people. To say it still another way, we must follow in the footsteps of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. When tempted by the devil, he defeated him with his humble appeal to the Word of God (Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). When the Pharisees attacked him, his superior wisdom sent them scurrying: “from that day no one dared to question him anymore” (Matt 22:46). And in John 18:38, when wrongly charged by the religious leaders on the day he was crucified, even Pilate was forced to confess after examining him, “I find no guilt in him” (ESV). May we also speak and live in such a way that those who would find fault with our faith be silenced because the evidence for the truth of what we believe and who we follow is simply too strong to deny.

Reflect and Discuss