The Bondage of Will

Introduction:  One of the older theories of the Advertising community is that the continual promotion of a product will instill a consuming desire in the hearts of people so that they will beat a path to the nearest store to buy that product.  A newer theory suggests that advertising primarily reaffirms the market choices of the consumer.  Thus there is seen an increasing necessity to widen the fields of advertising to hold on to each product's share of the market.  Since most of the twenty-five top selling products of the thirties are still in that same list today, the latter theory seems ever so much more sensible.

Now we are not gathered to discuss the ultimate truth of these theories.  However, as we turn to the fourth section of Psalm 119 we see the Psalmist wrestling with forces that bind his will to the worldly pleasures of sin.   Just as much of our population seems consumed with the bindings of materialism so does David experience the bondage of his will.  While the secularists will accept the theories of advertisers they will not accept our proposition that the individual will's is bound to sin.

This bondage we would teach on the basis of God's revealed Word.  Paul shows us that we are released from bondage in Phillipians 2: 13 where he writes: "it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure."

This bondage we do not notice until we are being released from it by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.  We see this in Ephesians 2: 1-5:  "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

Development:  Once we are being released by God's grace, we like David here have a lifelong struggle in sanctification.  This topic is fitting in this portion of the Psalm since last week we saw the Gracing of God's servant.  The fact of God's grace forces us to struggle with the worldly hold on our hearts, minds and habits!  Let us turn to verse twenty-five of Psalm 119.

 "I am laid low in the dust:

                                revive my life according to Your word."

Our first responsibility is to examine the Hebrew for "laid low".  The sense of our translation should be understood in this manner.  When NASA was in the process of sending the first man to the Moon, some of our experts were concerned that the layer of dust on the Moon might be so thick that when the lunar lander settled down on the surface, it might sink in completely.  Providentially, the Moon wasn’t collecting dust for as many eons as some of our evolutionary scientists worried!

It is in this sense then that David is laid low in the dust.  But, there is more danger than this in the phrase.  Older translations use another word to convey the Hebrew.  "My soul cleaveth unto the dust".   The meaning here signifies "being joined", "being adhered", or "being overtaken".  In our time we understand this in the comic media images of people being joined with some object or person by super glue!

"I am super glued to this world" might well be David's observation!  In the context of another psalm I have often spoken of the Tom Cat I once rescued from a ten foot long piece of fly paper!  Talk about being wrapped up in the cords of sin.  Of course, his release was fairly simple; I just grabbed hold of the paper and let him do all of the pulling.

These dust and glue images our psalmist realizes in this sense:  I am under the power of sin implores David.  He prays to the Lord for deliverance.  Notice that he seeks the Lord's method for preservation!  It is well that we learn and remember that method set forth in the following verses:

                "I declared my ways and You answered me:

                                 teach me Your statutes!”

“ Let me understand the teaching of Your precepts:

                                 then I will meditate on Your wonders."

 God's method is simple.  First we like David must confess our sins.  Certainly God already knows our sins and the purpose of our confession is to improve our realization of them.   The word declared is indicative of a regular review.  Several times while taking attendance in class early in a year, I have had to count the students more than once.  A student once observed that I needed to learn to count again.  I answered that counting students was a lot like counting sheep, they don't hold still long enough to be certain.  Besides I was trying to determine exactly which one was missing because all of the usual part-timers were all there for a change.  I did find out who my missing student was. 

Do you find all of your sins?  Not just the normal regular ones, but the one's that you might overlook?  David here counts and recounts his ways.  And as I have translated the verse, he declares the situation in his own heart.  Let us learn that the Lord well rewards our perseverance in this endeavor, just as he rewarded David.  David was answered!  So will God answer us.  But sometimes when we are out of favor with the Lord and He continues to burden us and we cannot find the cause of that burden His message to us may be that we need to learn something new.

David realizes this in his request for teaching.  "Teach me your statutes," he asks.   But not only teaching is his prayer, he also implores understanding from God.  Here he is asking for a deeper insight into the practical meaning of God's word.  And if he is but given this insight, then he will meditate upon those wonders.  He will think and reflect on God's answer just as he would count and recount his own shortcomings.

Before we move on to realize the blessings of God's method for deliverance from the bondage of sins, let us rehearse that method again.

•                 Step one is to carefully confess our sins.

•                 Step two is to seek the teaching of God's Word.

•                 Step three is to pray for understanding.

•                 Step four is to meditate upon that understanding.

But of course, knowledge of sin is not the antidote; we must go on and realize a godly sorrow for the infection!  In the secular world, the only thing that people genuinely show sorrow for these days is when someone they know becomes infected with cancer or some other deadly disease.

 "My soul is weary with sorrow;

                                 strengthen me according to Your word.

How many times have you really truly been sorry for some sin?  I sometimes wonder if sorrow for sin isn’t somewhat like pain to certain maladies?  During the first World War the German commander in East Africa had the local doctors put together a medical concoction that would increase endurance against malaria.  It was a foul tasting remedy and the European troops named the “tea” after their leader.  But, it was effective.  While the majority of allied casualties in that area of the world were to disease, very few of the Germans suffered and died in that respect.

Conclusion:   My point is, that the realization of the burden of sin is especially painful to the soul because we like to think better of ourselves than we are in truth.  This is where I see the dangerous focus of pop psychobabble, because ever and always, our students are being encouraged to realize their best potential and always focus on the greatness of their being.  What a crude and rude shock there will be when and if the Holy Spirit ever gets hold of them and they realize the sanctimonious absurdity of man made wisdom.

The last phrase comes from David’s lifelong experience.  Through the word of God, carefully read and faithfully regarded, there is life and strength and spiritual health.  May we adopt the poetry of this moment as our own life song as we continue the long-term struggle with and against sin.  Amen.