The Knowledgeable Man

From the blameless man we come to verses 4-6 and we find the Knowledgeable Man. Notice, he directly addresses God in verse 4, “You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.”

Three words for God’s Word,

precepts—these are detailed instructions,

statutes—these have the binding force of permanence because they are God’s statutes,

commandments—straight authority of what is said because of the One saying it. We have to know what God’s Word says because in the Word we find Him and we find life.

The knowledgeable man is a man who is aware of God’s commands. He knows what God has commanded and he knows the commandments must be kept. God’s commandments have never been optional…the very nature of the word commandment shows this to be true.

Second, he desires to keep God’s commands. Look at verse 5, “Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes.” He yearns to desire to desire obedience…he yearns to do it steadfastly…not just to get him out of a bind, but as his lifestyle…he is looking for long term endurance in keeping God’s Word.

We are eternal beings and we have to thinking eternally. We can’t seek momentary obedience for momentary blessing…we must look for steadfast obedience for eternal blessing. He knows he isn’t there, but he says, “Oh that my ways may be steadfast…” Do you desire this kind of obedience?

And then we find the knowledgeable man not only desires, but decides to keep God’s commands. Verse 6, “Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.” We live in a world where the supposed ‘elites’ look down on those who would actually believe the Word of God, believe in God, and certainly, allow the Word to dictate how we are supposed to live what they are to think.

Don’t ever be ashamed of the Word of God…it is God’s Word and when man goes against the Word of God man is always wrong…even if the whole world disagrees. I know that sounds egotistical, but we have to have the mindset of Athanasius, a bishop in the early church. He stood opposed to the teaching of Arius, suffered through 5 exiles, and finally stood before the emperor who asked, “Do you not realize that the world is against you?” He answered, “Then Athanasius is against the world.” When you clearly know God’s Word—you can have that kind of confidence and you must decide to keep His commandments…fix your eyes on the commandments and keep them. Notice, “having my eyes fixed on all your commandments,” not just the ones that are convenient, not just the ones that we like, but all. Fix your eyes…like a runner in a race looking toward the finish line…set your eyes on Him and run with all you have even if you are running alone, but you’ll never be alone…He will always be with you.