By Rev. Landon Coleman
Pastor, Immanuel
Since August I have been preaching through Psalm 119. This longest chapter of the Bible clocks in at an impressive 176 verses. Almost every one of these 176 verses makes a direct reference to the written Word of God. A variety of terms are used, and they are mostly used interchangeably — law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, rules, word, and promise. All in all, it’s clear that the longest chapter in the Bible is about the Bible itself, the written Word of God.
I planned this 22-week sermon series back in 2022. Last year, as I laid out my preaching plan for the upcoming year, I decided to place Psalm 119 at the back half of this year, 2023. Starting in August and ending on Sunday, December 31, we set out to work through each of the 22 stanzas of Psalm 119, one stanza a week. This schedule has prevented us from pausing for a special Christmas sermon series. However, that doesn’t mean we have ignored the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, even as we have continued to work through Psalm 119. In many ways, the Psalms prepare us for the birth, the ministry, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus.
At the outset of his ministry, Jesus made it clear that he had not come to abolish the Old Testament, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). After his death and resurrection, Jesus assured his disciples that everything written in the Old Testament – the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms – it all pointed to Jesus (Luke 24:44). The apostle Paul described the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as perfectly in line with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
What is true broadly of the Old Testament is also true narrowly of the book of Psalms. The Psalms all reflect an immediate circumstance in the life of the author (often, David), and the Psalms all have a current application to the people of God (Christians). But most importantly, the Psalms point us to Jesus Christ.
The fact that the Psalms point to Jesus is abundantly clear in the Shin stanza of Psalm 119, which is the stanza that we will consider tomorrow on Christmas Eve at Immanuel. In Psalm 119:161-168, we read about a man who was unjustly persecuted by princes even though he had gladly and joyfully committed his life to living out God’s Word. Surely these verses make us think of David — a man who was persecuted by Saul even though he was a man after God’s heart. Surely there is a current application of these verses in the life of every Christian — we are to expect persecution even as we seek to build our lives on the Word of God.
But above all else, Psalm 119:161-168 points us to Jesus — the God-man who was persecuted by Herod the Great at his birth and by Herod Antipas in his death. Jesus – the one whose life was the true fulfillment of the Old Testament, the only one who perfectly built his life on the Word of God. Jesus — the one who was born to save us from our sins.
