PERSISTENT SIN SHOULD ALARM US!

IF YOU LOVE THE WORD, YOU MUST LOVE PURITY!

Psalm 119:113-120
I hate the double-minded,
but I love your law.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Depart from me, you evildoers,
that I may keep the commandments of my God.
Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
Hold me up, that I may be safe
and have regard for your statutes continually!
You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,
for their cunning is in vain.
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,
therefore I love your testimonies.
My flesh trembles for fear of you,
and I am afraid of your judgments.

The writer begins this section making a strong statement against the double-minded. The contrast is between loving the law and being double minded. For one to be able to say that they love God and still be double minded about following God’s precepts is impossible.

Being double minded is something that James also addressed:

James 1:5-8

        If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James describes the double minded person as a person who doubts that God will give him wisdom for the trials of life. A double minded person will be tossed and confused; in fact, he will be unstable in all he does. Any difficulty, like a burst of wind, will toss him in every direction.

We know that we receive wisdom through the Word of God. The psalmist loves the word and has no time for those who are double-minded. He realizes that the temptation to be swayed in different directions, to listen to different voices and therefore become unstable (and at the end, hypocritical) is strong. So he commits himself to find refuge from such ideas and people in the Word. In fact, he uses the Word as a shield, and his trust in it is unwavering.

I know that doubts of God’s sovereignty, wisdom, character, power, and love can assail me during the difficult and dark times. My earthly mind, my deceitful heart, and the world will easily drive me to doubt God’s work, and therefore His Word. But I know that my faith and trust in His Law needs to be resolute and sure. I know that I must go to the Word to find protection from wrong thinking and, consequently, wrong behavior.

The writer exclaims for the evildoers to depart from him. He does not want to be influenced by them, for he knows that they are going to be enemies to his resolve. What an admonition for us when we entertain wrong thinking in our minds, when we allow ungodly people and thoughts to whisper into our ears. James warns us that entertaining wrong thinking and feeding our natural desires will have only one kind of outcome: SIN.

The psalmist knows that he needs God’s protection so that he will not be put to shame by his behavior. He needs help to continue to uphold the statutes of God. He knows that God is offended by his sin, and that God judges his actions.

When we coddle our sin or we justify it, we should be alarmed. If we justify or accept it, our relationship with Christ should be questioned. Even in the best of cases, we are inviting the heavy hand of God upon us. The words of John are a great warning for us.

1 John 3:4-10
        Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

These words from John should promote in us the same kind of reaction the psalmist has toward sin. Persistent sin requires genuine repentance. If we are God’s children, God’s correction will come.

Hebrews 12:6

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Dear friend if you do not share the resolve of the writer of this psalm, be alarmed. Continued sin puts your salvation into question, as well as inviting God’s faithful correction of His own. May these verses be a warning for us for our daily lives, and may God use our testimony of total dependence on God’s help to point them to Him. The psalmist knew he could not do it alone; his resolve was accompanied by earnest prayer for help from God.