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Psalm 119:17-24
That is our our music leader made. Well Gunnar made. Well.
007.
We appreciate you brother. Psalm 119 look I I don't I don't know what to. I Don't know what to make, you know of The conditions of our country and all these sorts of things. I don't have a long-term Outlook or solution.
I can tell you that hey, this is going to happen or whatever. But but I do know this as a pastor as a Christian as a citizen of this country. I.
Can tell you.
That God's people must constantly Seek to be people of the book. That no matter what our outward circumstances may.
Show.
No matter.
What.
This or that season may bring. We constantly must strive to be a people who are anchored in the Word of God. And so that's what we're doing as we go verse by verse. Through Psalm 119. Remember it is the longest chapter in the Bible.
176 verses. 22 stanzas each stanza. Eight verses long each stanza. Representing a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. On Sunday mornings Gunnar's leading us through Olive singing the the first stanza and It's a it's a love poem if you will to the Bible and So we ought to be a people who love the Bible now tonight.
The sometimes Baptists are Accused. I've actually heard this phrase before of Believing that the Trinity is Father Son and Holy Bible. Well, that's foolish. The Trinity has got Father Son and Holy Spirit and we believe here in the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the necessity and power of the Holy Spirit. And what I want to talk about tonight from Psalm 119 is the Holy Spirit and the Bible the Spirit and The Word. And I want to look at how the Holy Spirit.
Works.
In through and by the scriptures does God speak to us today? Amen. You should have not even have a reservation about that. Does God speak to his people today? Amen, how does he speak. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in through and by?
The scriptures and. So we come tonight and consider the Spirit and the Word. Would you stand with me as we honor the reading of God's Word? We're in the third Stanza now verse 17 gimel is the Hebrew letter.
So if you're if we were reading this in Hebrew, we would hear the alliteration. Each line begins with this Hebrew letter. Verse 17 deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes that I may behold Wondrous things out of your law. I'm a sojourner on the earth. Hide not your commandments from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent accursed ones who wander from your commandments.
Take away from me scorn and contempt. For I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors.
Let's pray father. We thank you for your word. We pray that you would bless us. Teach us encourage us in the scriptures. May we be people of the book. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated.
So last week word the purpose of knowing it and then some practical ways for knowing it tonight. We're going to look at the Holy Spirit's role in helping us knowing God's Word and walking in his ways.
Let me just preliminarily mention verse 17 deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and Keep your word. We said that one of the themes of Psalm 119 is prayer and you could see here. This is prayer.
Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word. The psalmist even at the beginning of this stanza acknowledges his Dependence on God. It is by God's tender mercies and compassionate watch care that that we exist.
The psalmist wants to live now. That's a noble desire, but notice how he wants to live. I want to live and look at the last three words in the English keep your Word. He tells God but in order for the believer to keep God's Word.
We understand that we are dependent on God. We're not just dependent on God for our Oxygen and for our food and and for our heart to continue beating but we're Dependent on God to keep his word walking with Christ and knowing his word.
These are impossible tasks apart from the Holy Spirit. And so I want to look at tonight three ways the Holy Spirit works in by with through the scriptures.
To.
Work in the lives of God's people number one is illumination. One of the things that the Holy Spirit does With the Word of God is illuminate. The Word of God shines a light on it that we can understand it.
The text is verse 18 the psalmist prays to God open my eyes That I may behold wondrous things out of Your law. It's not that the Holy Spirit puts new things in the Bible that are not already there. It's not that he he gives us new Revelations so that we can understand new things that are already contained in Scripture rather what he does is shed light On God's revealed truth for us.
But the psalmist understood God's work in revealing his word. So he prays to God open my eyes. Help me to see. We we can read and you've done this before. Haven't you you you you can read say the book of Leviticus a thousand times.
But there's something different isn't there when you're reading it and then all of a sudden you're like, oh man, I see Christ. I see where Jesus is pointed to in this text. I Understand here the holiness of God.
That's the Holy Spirit Illuminating. It's not that the psalmist is blind. But that he acknowledges the need for Spiritual eyes so that he could understand God's Word friends. We need the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word of God.
By the way, Psalm 119 verse 18 is an excellent verse to pray every morning as you open the Bible. It's a very good prayer to pray as you begin your daily quiet time father. We from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who enables the Unbeliever to see Christ.
So for example, I'll just read 1st Corinthians 2 14 the natural person Does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him and he is not able to understand them. Because they are spiritually discerned.
In other words What has to happen to the unregenerate is before he can understand the gospel and the things of God. He has to be made of made alive so that he can understand and discern the things of the gospel.
But for we who are Christians who who desire a deeper understanding the true understanding of the scriptures. It's the Spirit of God who who opens our eyes so that we may behold wondrous things out of God's Word.
Let me pause there. And Mitch I don't normally do this. I'm gonna take a sip of this. But let me pause there and and ask for a second.
Do you?
Believe that in the Bible. There are wondrous things. Do you believe that in the Bible? There are things that are worthy of your Captivation that are worthy of your Efforts that are worthy of teaching to your children friends.
Yes.
There are wondrous things the the the reading of God's Word ought not to be monotonous or feel like just Labor or drudgery there are wondrous things in this book. And so we pray God open our eyes so that we can see these things again not new information, but understanding.
Rightly what is there and then in verse 19 the text says I'm a sojourner on the earth. Hide not your commandments from me now. I've told you this before a few weeks ago, but Brian Borgman says that he thinks perhaps he's not gonna like hold this really tight, but maybe Psalm 119 was written by Daniel and.
And if it was then this would be an example because Daniel was a sojourner in Bab and Babylon. Maybe Daniel wrote it. I'm not sure. I'm not really even care about debating that but there is a real sense.
No matter how we take it in this age. All of God's people are sojourners. Peter calls us in in first Peter Elect exiles that is this world is not our home. We feel out of place. We feel different. This is another reason that we need God's Word of comfort and and promise.
So he's pleading with God. I'm a sojourner so hide not your commandments from me. In other words, I need to know what it is I'm supposed to do in this fallen and broken world where where I'm different and and people treat me differently.
And I'm kind of an outcast as it were so don't hide your commandments from me. We need the Holy Spirit to continually to illuminate God's Word. We need his direction. Now you say well aren't God's commandments already right here.
What do you mean? Don't hide them. Yes, they are but the world and the flesh and the devil they they constantly have us turn away. Seek to have us turn away from God's commandments. So we need a dependency on the Holy Spirit.
It's not just me and my Bible separated from the Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit who is the author of the scriptures to continually Cause us to understand Their their great truth. So as strangers and sojourners in this world that the church is desperate for the Holy Spirit to continue to guide us in truth.
So one of the ways that the Holy Spirit works is illumination number two. The other way that he works with the scriptures is by conviction. So another important work the Holy Spirit does is convict people of sin.
Look at verse 21. You rebuke the insolent accursed ones who wander from your commandment the the psalmist notice Notices that not all Israel is true Israel. There are some who are ethnically Jewish around him, but are rejecting God's ways right they are verse 21 they are Wandering from your commandments.
It's not that they they they don't know the commandments. They're wandering from them. They are proud and insolent. They refuse to submit to God. The psalmist here is affirming the fact that God rebukes those who do such thing.
It reminds me of John 16 8 when Jesus says and when the Holy Spirit comes He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. So despite the fall Mankind is still remains in the image of God at our core.
We we understand the concepts of right and wrong, even though it's it's certainly skewed. We we know we are wrong. We know there's something broken in this world or how about those in our world today who want to stop their ears and and and shout and and and want to rid the United States of Christianity.
Why do they want to do that? Why is Christianity feel such a threat to people like like why won't people just like this is proof by the way, if if they really thought that Christians were just crazy and That everything that we preached and thought and taught was just foolishness.
Then they would just leave us alone, right? Because they're like that's gonna amount to nothing but it but their persecution Is actually a proof that they understand Naturally that they are wrong. And so they they they want to stop Christianity they know they're wrong.
But but here's the reality the Holy Spirit in accordance with the scriptures brings Conviction upon sinners and he also uses this to draw sinners to repentance. The Holy Spirit is able to convict and by the blood of Christ.
Sinners are able to be Vindicated right? I encourage you with something tonight to remember anytime. You're under the preaching of the word anytime. Anytime you're in Bible study anytime. You're in Sunday school anytime.
You're reading the Bible by yourself anytime you feel conviction for sin. Are you listening to this anytime you feel conviction for sin? That is a mercy that's a mercy of God and It's not something that you ought to take lightly.
Oh, I feel bad for doing because sometimes what happens I just know this experientially. Sometimes when you feel conviction for sin, you look for an outlet. Who are you to tell me that right and and sometimes people get mad at the preacher.
Sometimes people get mad at at someone else in the church or or they maybe get mad at their spouse. But please understand when we're convicted for sin. It's God's mercy. Reminding us that these things aren't right and reminding us.
There is a solution to our sin in Christ. In what God has done for us in his perfect work in the life death burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus verse 22. The psalmist says take almost said Paul said that's what you get for preaching Ephesians for four years like okay.
I don't know who wrote someone 19 for sure, but I know it wasn't the Apostle Paul Verse 22 take away from me scorn and contempt for I've kept your testimonies. We must understand that the psalmist has kept the testimonies.
Not as a way to be saved but because he has trusted in God's promises. It was an outflow if you will of a transformed life like we talked about this morning. God emboldens his servants to stand up to those who would scoff at God's commandments and and perhaps some of them will come to Jesus in repentance and faith.
The psalmist because he is keeping God's Word faces scorn and contempt the Holy Spirit works. With his word to convict us of sin. And so I remind us tonight not to suppress.
Conviction.
If you are struggling with with.
This.
Uh.
Realities to to to flee to the father for mercy. Thirdly, I want to mention this the Holy Spirit works in our life through the word with conviction with illumination with conviction and. Thirdly, I'll just mention delight.
I go back to verse 18. I want to mention that again. Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law friends. There are wondrous things in the Word of God. Christ is there. The grandeur of the gospel is there.
Look down at verse 20. My soul is Consumed with longing for your rules at all times. Don't don't you want to don't you want this kind of heart? Don't you want this kind of disposition for the things of God?
This is what happens when the heart is born again. This is what happens when we have fresh mercy from the Holy Spirit. We can we can pray that as Christians. It's not wrong Holy Spirit help me to to live this way and to see the beauty of your word like this and to have this Longing for your rules like this.
Or as we said this morning Lord help my unbelief. Verse 23, even though princes sit plotting against me your servant will meditate on your statutes. You think about that for a moment? The longing for the Word of God the Holy Spirit brings delight the Holy Spirit brings Delight to the believers heart in the Word of God not just on bright sunny days but even when princes even when people in positions of power Sit plotting against the church.
What does the church do? I don't know what we're gonna do, right? We've got to dig a bunker or we've got a we've got to run around and we've got to figure out what's gonna happen next. But he says even though princes sit plotting against me.
What am I? What are you gonna do? I'm gonna meditate on the statutes of God. That's faith. When though it's not saying about being foolish. It's not about saying be unprepared. It's not saying don't don't know the times and the seasons that you live in.
Of course, that's not true. But what there is a faith inside the believer that understands in the midst of the storm I can have a confidence that God is in control and I'm going to wake up and I'm going to read my Bible and I'm going to meditate on God's.
Statutes.
Even though we're exiles and strangers. Even if the economy goes into the tank. Even if we are persecuted for our faith, even during the trials of this light life. We will delight ourselves in God's Word for it is good and it points us to Jesus.
Who is our joy and our comfort? Verse 24 your testimonies are my delight. Do you know what happens when you really begin to think about the scriptures. Meditation is not a weird word. It just means you're thinking.
I would say this you meditate all the time. The problem is we often meditate about the wrong things. We daydream. What would it be like if I had a bunch of money right or or you daydream in anxiety you understand?
The human condition is such that we begin to be anxious about things and then we invent things. That like we get so far down the road of things that might happen. That it's like we're so immobilized with fear because we've just invented things in our mind.
So so, you know how to meditate, you know how to use your brain and think on things. But the the exhortation tonight is use that Ability that you have not to think about wicked things or evil things or even daydream about good things but to meditate on the Word of God to fill your mind with the scriptures and then the scriptures become not drudgery for you, but a delight and Furthermore not just a delight but look at what the text says.
They are my counselors. Well, I think there's a whole sermon there. I won't preach it, but there's a whole sermon there and that is do you believe that the scriptures are authoritative enough? Clear enough.
Necessary enough and sufficient enough to give you counseling. They are. It's a sad now I'll say something it would be kind of offensive. If you don't hear me, right, and if I do offend you, please it's not my Desire and please give me the opportunity to talk to you more after the sermon.
But understand that we live in a world today that I think is laden with secular therapy. Because we don't because Christians don't believe this verse. We don't believe that the scriptures are enough. I'm not saying do it on your own.
I'm saying years ago pastors were understood as Those who gave godly counsel spiritual counsel the things that we're dealing with in the 21st century. You want to pretend that they're different and that they're new and we've got all these things but it's like Solomon says there really is nothing new under the Sun and the Bible really is a sufficient word to address our sin issues and we need to believe that.
The scriptures really can be our counsel. We must not relegate the Bible to Sunday. Well, I just need the Bible preach. It's not no. No, we we need the Bible to help us be a better husband. We need the Bible to help us fight depression to help us fight anxiety to help us fight anger.
Too I need the well I don't need the Bible to be a better wife. But the wives in this room you need the Bible to help you be a better wife. So it teaches be a better dad and husband and a wife and a mother and how to be a better church member a better a better worker all these things the scriptures are counselor.
What you want is a verse sometimes that says okay thou shalt take this job and leave that job. That's not how the Bible works rather it builds within us wise and holy principles so that then we can live by those principles pleasing to God.
Billions of people today. Listen, you wouldn't be alone. If you believe this billions of people today consider the book that I'm preaching from to be outdated irrelevant and archaic. You have you don't have the right but you have the Option if you will, it's it's not a righteous option but but the option is before you if you will to decide along with everyone else in the world that the book that I'm preaching to you is Irrelevant or maybe it's a nice little help now and then but it but it's not really it's not really a delight.
It's only something used to serve you your ends or it's not really sufficient. It doesn't really bear authority on your life. You can believe that you have that option. You can go day to day in your life without the Bible having any real meaning in your life.
It's not your delight. It's not your counselor. You're just gonna do your own way and own thing and when someone brings scripture to your life, you're gonna say well. You can't judge me. If that's what you choose to do.
Then you certainly have the majority of mankind on your side. But I want to tell the church this evening That you would be in error. And you would give an account before God for hearing a message like this on the beauty and wonder of the scriptures and deciding Not to believe the all-sufficient all authoritative all necessary all clear Word of God.
I'm encouraging us tonight by faith that we we take hold of these Truths now, let me go back to this morning a little bit. What do we do if the word isn't a delight sometimes? What do we do? Well, the reality is you you live in a fallen world.
And we still struggle in this world with the the world the flesh and the devil so what do we do? Well one encouragement for you tonight is go to the Holy Spirit pray.
Ask.
For his help. Ask for understanding. Ask for motivation and. Also, let me tell you this. Don't quit like I said this morning in the morning. Let obedience become habitual for you. Don't quit every day.
Wake up. Open the scriptures. Yeah, but if I don't feel like it am I. Am I doing it for the wrong reasons? Well, let me say this. You can read the Bible for the wrong reasons. But to not read the Bible is always for the wrong reason.
Better to read the Bible for the wrong reason than to not read the Bible because perhaps by reading the Bible even for the wrong reason the Holy Spirit will grab ahold of you and Lead you to repentance convict you of sin and cause you to again to renew your walk with Christ.
Look again where we started verse 17. Deal bountifully with your servant. A lot of a lot of people pray like that and They leave out the second half or maybe they they leave out half of the second half.
So they pray three-fourths of this prayer. Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live. Have you prayed like that before? Deal bountifully with God. Bless me. Bless my home. Bless our country.
Bless our church. Deal bountifully with us but don't forget the entirety of the verse. Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live. And what. And keep your.
Word.
For the Spirit's blessings on your life in order to live for God's glory. Frankly, I'll put it this way I don't want this church to continue to exist if it's not for the glory of God. If the church is going to bring a reproach upon the name of Christ, let's close the doors and sell the property.
God is worthy. Christ is worthy of a healthy church and frankly we ought to have the same Mentality not just about the church but about our lives. God if my life is just going to be a reproach to the name of Christ.
I don't want to live it. Deal bountifully with me bless me that I may live and keep your word for your glory. Are you thankful tonight for the Holy Spirit's work with the scriptures? Illuminating the word.
Convicting us of sin. Causing us to delight in the scriptures. And you remember what we talked about this morning. We take all of this in light of what Jesus has done. Jesus has brought us into the kingdom by his perfect life by his sacrificial death by his victorious Resurrection he's brought us into the kingdom and the idea is not well.
Just keep the Bible so you can keep all this is no no. He's brought us into the kingdom and now we're hungry. We want to know what the Bible says and we we want to be a people who live and adjust our lives.
According to what the book says even even when it's hard. Me you guys know this. I don't. It's it's kind of crazy. It's been two years now. But there were multiple things that happened in my life. I say 2022 but really I probably ought to start back in 2020.
It really probably was kovat and just like Shaken all like it shook all of us and then, you know. Just the response and all those things and then you get into 2022 and there were just several things I preached at a couple different conferences got to be around people saw different things.
I was in Mexico. I was at the SBC annual meeting just so many things just kind of boiled over. And I just had to come to a point in my life where I said, you know what? This is all that matters and if I am the only one left I have to have a resolve to stand upon this truth.
And God has been so gracious. Because I was dumb like, you know, Elijah, you remember Elijah. He was like, I'm the only one left and God was like I've got 7 ,000 who haven't bowed to me and God has graciously reminded me.
This isn't like a quattro thing. This is like a this is a God thing. Look around this room. We're on a Sunday night. It's Super Bowl Sunday. And we look around this room and we see this room. Maybe you wouldn't say full but for a Sunday night full of people hungry for the Word of God.
Friends I plead with you tonight to not lose that hunger. To keep pursuing the Holy Spirit in bringing us that hunger in that delight. And you know part of what we're doing tonight.
Is.
How God encourages us in the faith. When we partake of the Lord's Supper like we're going to do in just a moment. We're reminding that it's not our love for the Bible that gets us into heaven. It's God's love for us that gets us into heaven.
Which is demonstrated by the broken body and shed blood of Christ. Which is symbolized in the elements that we're partaking of. So my question tonight as we close is will the word be your authority this week.
We trust it as completely sufficient. We take delight tonight in reading it. Studying it meditating on it knowing that the word points you to Jesus friends family brothers and sisters. Will we continually strive to be a people of the book?
Who loved the book and in light of tonight's sermon who are utterly acknowledging their dependence on The Holy Spirit to work through this word to bring us to be the people that we're called to be. Let's stand tonight.
And as you stand, I'll offer a word of prayer and we'll sing. Father I thank you for this church family. We pray tonight that you would bless The word that was preached may it sink into our hearts. Bless the song that we're about to sing.
Bless the meal that we're about to partake of. We pray that our hearts are encouraged and strengthened in Christ. Lord, we pray tonight. If there's someone in this place who has no desire for the Word of God that the Holy Spirit would mercifully bring conviction to them.
And they would repent. Believe the gospel trust Christ is there only suitable.