Great Peace for Lovers of the Word Psalm 119: 161-168

Friends,

We’ve almost reached the end of our journey through Psalm 119. After Sin and Shin,

only one stanza remains. Then, DV, we’ll invest several Sundays in a few of the psalms written by the sons of Korah. That promises to be a meaningful study. And then, by God’s grace, we’ll meet Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.

But for today and this Sunday, one word in vs 161-168 stands out to me. It’s the word,

“love.”

The psalmist loves God’s Word, saying,

“I rejoice at your word” (v 162), “I love your law” (v 163), “I love your law” (v 165), “I love them exceedingly” (v 167).

That love is especially noteworthy because the stanza begins with persecution: “Princes persecute me without cause” (v 161). These aren’t insignificant enemies. These are powerful

people, people with authority, and the psalmist says their opposition is unjust. Yet he doesn’t spend the rest of the stanza talking about them. In fact, after the first line, he never mentions

them again and that is so important. The princes may have his attention for a moment, but God’s Word has his heart.

And look at the contrast in v 161: “Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.” There are two powers before him. One is the power of princes. The other is the power of God’s Word. And the psalmist is far more impressed by the second than the first. That’s a good word for you and me.

That word “awe” is important. The ESV says his heart “stands in awe” of God’s words.

There is a trembling here, just a holy reverence before what God has said. Men may have the power to threaten him, but God alone possesses the authority that rules his heart.

And then the stanza moves from awe to joy: “I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil” (v 162). I love that picture. Imagine discovering a treasure you weren’t expecting to find. The psalmist doesn’t approach Scripture as though he is checking something off his spiritual list. If reading the Bible is a discipline at all, it is first a delight, a delightful discipline. He opens God’s Word like a person opening a treasure chest. Inside, he’s has found something valuable, something worth celebrating.

And that love for God’s truth begins ordering everything else in his life. Because he loves truth, he hates falsehood (v 163). Because he loves God’s righteous rules, praise repeatedly rises from his heart (v 164). Because he loves God’s law, he possesses “great peace” (v 165). Because he hopes in God’s salvation, he obeys (v 166). And because he loves God’s testimonies “exceedingly,” he keeps them (v 167).

Do you see the progression? It’s so important. His love for God’s Word is shaping his

affections, his worship, his peace, his hope, and his obedience.

That brings me to what may be the great statement of the stanza and perhaps the most memorable also. It reads, “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble” (v 165). Notice that the psalmist doesn’t say peaceful circumstances belong to those who love God’s law. His circumstances aren’t peaceful at all. He is being persecuted! Yet he has “great peace.”

That distinction matters for you and me. We often think peace will come when whatever is troubling us goes away. When the diagnosis changes. When the conflict ends. When the problem gets solved. When the person who is making life difficult finally leaves us alone. But the psalmist has discovered a peace that doesn’t depend upon any of those things. The princes are still there. So is the peace.

That sounds a lot like the peace Jesus promised His disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27) doesn’t it? And it also sounds like Paul’s “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” guarding our hearts and minds in Jesus (Phil 4:7). What this teaches me is that biblical peace is bigger than the absence of trouble. It is the presence of God in the middle of trouble.

And notice the result: “nothing can make them stumble.” That doesn’t mean the believer

never suffers, struggles, grieves, or even sins. The psalmist has done all of those things

throughout Psalm 119. The idea is stability, faithfulness, endurance. Loving God’s Word gives us something solid beneath our feet when everything around us seems to move.

I’m beginning to think that may be the controlling thought for the sermon. Here is the

outline that is currently guiding my study this week.

Big Idea: Those who love God’s Word can live with great peace because His truth gives them joy, stability, hope, and a life of faithful obedience. So,

First: Let’s Stand in Awe of God’s Word (vs 161–164)

The stanza begins with competing authorities. Princes have earthly power, but God’s Word has captured the psalmist’s heart. He stands in awe of it, rejoices over it like treasure, loves its truth, hates falsehood, and praises God throughout the day for His righteous judgments.

There is an important progression here. Awe leads to joy, joy deepens love, and love produces praise. What we truly treasure eventually shapes the way we live.

Second: Let’s Rest in the Peace of God’s Word (v 165)

This verse deserves some room of its own. The psalmist has discovered “great peace,” even while powerful people persecute him. His peace doesn’t come from the removal of opposition. It grows from loving the truth of God.

That is why he can say, “nothing can make them stumble.” God’s Word doesn’t necessarily remove the rocks from the road. It teaches us how to walk without falling on them and getting hurt.

Third: Let’s Live in Hopeful Obedience to God’s Word (vs 166–168)

The final three verses bring hope, love, and obedience together. “I hope for your salvation, O LORD, and I do your commandments” (v 166). Then, “My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly” (v 167).

Notice again that obedience grows out of love. The psalmist isn’t grudgingly complying with God. He loves God’s testimonies “exceedingly,” so he keeps them. According to the last

verse of the last section, that’s the “sum” of them, and “every one” of them (v 160); the hard ones, the inconvenient ones, the cruciforming ones, the ones I wish were not there, etc. All of them. Each of them.

And then comes the final reason, “for all my ways are before you” (v 168).

That may be the quiet climax of the stanza. The psalmist lives his entire life consciously before God. God sees every road he walks, every pressure he faces, every choice he makes, every hidden thought, every act of obedience. He is living what the Reformers would later call

coram Deo, before the face of God. That’s a great goal for you and me. To walk with Jesus, to live with Him, before we ever meet and follow him in Matthew. To do it today, and every day.



And here is where the gospel meets us. Jesus perfectly lived the life Psalm 119 describes. He stood in absolute submission to His Father’s Word. When Satan tempted Him, He answered with Scripture. When powerful rulers opposed Him without cause, He remained faithful. He loved righteousness and hated wickedness. He obeyed His Father all the way to the cross. This means, as always, that Jesus is the model and the means. He shows us the way and then, by His indwelling Spirit, enables us to follow Him.

And because He died and rose again for us, the peace described here becomes ours along the way. As Paul writes, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1). Before we experience the peace of God, Jesus gives us peace with God. The order is essential. This means, as always, that Jesus is the model and the means.

Maybe that’s ultimately why the psalmist’s “great peace” means so much to us. The world can threaten many things we possess. Circumstances can change. People can disappoint us. Bodies can fail us. Princes can persecute us. But if we belong to Christ, the deepest issue of our existence has already been settled. We have peace with God so that we can enjoy the peace of God.

So, I think the movement of Sin and Shin can be remembered fairly simply: Let’s Stand in awe of God’s Word. Let’s Rest in the peace of God’s Word. Let’s Live in blessed obedience to God’s Word. Ah, that’s the blessed life for sure.

And maybe the question for you and me this week is simply this. Do we merely believe the Bible, or have we learned to love it? The psalmist says, “I love your law.” Then he says it again. And again. His great peace grows in the soil of a heart that has learned to treasure what God has said.

Thank you, my dear friends, for faithfully shepherding your Community Group and helping our people learn to love the Word of God. My prayer this week is that God will make us people who stand in awe of His Word, rejoice over it like treasure, love it exceedingly, and discover in it the great peace that belongs to those who obey the Lord. Let’s pray that together!

Well, that’s “The View from My Study” this Monday morning, the last Monday of September. See you on Wednesday night, DV.

In the love of Jesus for you and me, Pastor Reggie