How Much Is Your-Bible Worth? — Warren Wiersbe

The Value of Scripture and Spiritual Maturity

Psalm 119 verse 97. Oh, how love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. It's a mark of maturity when a person knows the difference between prices and values. You ladies who are value conscious when you go shopping.

Are careful to see whether you're getting the right amount for the money that you're spending and. If you get the large economy size, it may not be Economy, it might be waste. If this is true materially, it's also true spiritually.

It's really unfortunate when people do not mature in the Lord and therefore don't have the right values. Life is made up of values the things that are important to you determine what you do. It says of Jesus Christ who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.

It says of Moses he endured as seeing him who is invisible. He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater Riches than the treasures of Egypt and the thing that made Moses what he was was the fact that he had the right priorities the right values.

Now this can be true of us and Psalm 119 tells us that one of the greatest priorities in our lives Must be the Word of God. This is the longest chapter in the Bible and it is devoted to one subject the Word of God all of the 176 verses except for Mention the Word of God.

There are eight different names possibly ten different names given for the Word of God in these verses. They're all listed in the first section. Now if you have the right kind of a Bible. You'll notice that Psalm 119 is divided into 22 sections of eight verses each.

It follows the Hebrew alphabet and in the Hebrew language the first eight verses all begin with Aleph and. The next eight verses all begin with Baith and the next eight verses with Gimel and right down the line.

You say why was it written like this? You'll be amazed at the answer. Several times in the Psalms you find Psalms that are written alphabetically. Acrostic Psalms. In some cases they just follow 22 letters of the alphabet.

Other times they take two verses for each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. You know why? To make it easy to memorize. You say memorize Psalm 119. I had a rough time memorizing Psalm 1. Well, I think that God is saying to us here here's the most important subject I can talk to you about the Word of God.

I'm devoting a hundred and seventy six verses to it and to make it easy for you to remember it I'm dividing it up into the Hebrew alphabet 22 sections of eight verses each. It's all about the Word of God.

Now. This is what God is saying to us. We'd better pay attention to it in verse 1 of Psalm 119. The Word of God is called the law. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord.

25 times in this psalm. The Word of God is called the law of the Lord. Not something we guess about not something we'd say. Well, should I do it? It's the law of the Lord. We just don't argue with it.

Verse 2 it's called his testimonies 23 times you find testimonies in Psalm 119. God is testifying in his word what he wants us to know. Verse 3 it's called his ways 18 times. The Word of God his ways.

Verse 4 his precepts 21 times. Verse 5 thy statutes 22 times. Verse 6 thy commandments 22 times. Verse 7 thy judgments 23 times down in verse 9 thy word 23 times. So here the Lord uses eight different names in 22 different sections in the longest chapter of the Bible to talk to us about his word and.

Even an unbeliever would have to say well, it must be very important then. Now in view of the fact that the Bible is so important to God. It certainly ought to be important to us. That's good logic in view of the fact that the Bible is so important to God.

It ought to be important to us. And so we're going to seek to answer two questions tonight. Question number one. How much is your Bible worth? To you not how much did you pay for it? How much is it worth to you now.

And. Secondly if it is worth something to you, what will this do for you? How much is your Bible worth and is it worth at all? For the Bible to be worth something to us two very important questions. Question number one.

Loving the Word as the Living Word

How much is your Bible worth? Now we aren't sure who wrote Psalm 119. We usually attribute this to David. Some people think Jeremiah wrote it and there's a little bit of evidence. It's possible. We don't know.

But whoever he was he loved his Bible. In fact 11 times in this long chapter. He uses the verb love. Verse 97. Oh how love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. Verse 47. I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

Verse 48 my hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved over and over again. He expresses his love for the Word of God. Now, I think you know that when we love the Word of God, we are loving the Son of God.

We sang Oh Word of God incarnate. Jesus Christ is the living word. This is the written word, but Essentially they are the same. Everything the Bible says about itself. It says about Jesus. Jesus said I am the light of the world.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet a light unto my path. Jesus said I am the bread of life. He also said man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, he is the Holy Son of God.

This is the Holy Word of God. He is the eternal Son of God forever. Oh Lord thy word is settled in heaven when you sit down and make a list of the Attributes of God's Word and the attributes of God's Son.

You'll be amazed to see they agree. You know what? That means that means that the more we love God's Word the more we love God's Son. Now how much did this man love God's Word? How much was his Bible worth?

Preferring Scripture to Food and Physical Appetite

Well, let's just page through here and find some verses. Verse 103. He loved God's Word more than food. How sweet are thy words unto my taste. Yea sweeter than honey to my mouth. That sounds like Job.

Job made an interesting statement. Job 23 12. I esteem the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Which parallels something Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah chapter 15 verse 16 when he said thy words were found and I did eat them.

For they are the joy and the rejoicing of my heart for I am called by thy name. O Lord of hosts. Here's a man who says I'd rather have God's Word than have food. Have you ever missed a meal to spend time with the Word of God?

Now we've all missed the Word of God to spend time at a meal. But have we ever given up necessary food. To spend time with the Word of God. Now the Bible talks about fasting. Many people misunderstand fasting.

They think that fasting means you go without food. To bargain with God and say Lord. I made a sacrifice now and so you got to give something to me. That's not what fasting is at all. Fasting simply means that because I love something else better.

I just don't want to have any food or sleep. Fasting simply means the giving up of something good to get something better and This man says I'd rather have God's Word than have food. If you and I had to make a choice between the Word of God and Food what choice would we make?

I? Know what Jesus said. Jesus said my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work I feed on the will of God. I Feed on the Word of God. When the devil tempted him in the wilderness and said turn these stones into bread.

Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God our Lord could have turned stones into bread. Our Lord could have turned stones into beefsteak but he did not use his own power to satisfy a Legitimate need if it was going to rob him of the Word of God.

Now you and I don't have to perform miracles to get our meals. That may come someday. We can't do that. We say well man's gotta live. Does he? Does he really. Jesus said to the devil I'm gonna feed on the Word of God.

He said to his disciples. I've got meat to eat. You know nothing about Peter wrote to the Christians in the cities of his day and said As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word. The Word of God is bread and the Word of God is milk and the Word of God is honey.

And the Word of God is meat. Paul said I fed you with milk and not with meat. You weren't able to take it. Now if you can't make a meal out of that there's something wrong. The inner man has to be fed just as the outer man has to be fed.

The Lord is not denying the feeding of the outer man. He didn't say man shall not live by bread. He said man shall not live by bread alone. He's not saying that one is pitted against the other. He just simply says one is more important than the other.

And the psalmist said I'd rather have God's Word than have Food. This kind of convicts us. Because very few of us if any of us here tonight are going hungry. There are people in this world that are going hungry.

But the greatest famine in this world is not a famine of food as bad as that is. It's the famine that Amos talked about a famine of the Word of God. There are millions of people who go to churches and never get the Word of God.

Would you rather have God's Word or have food? Now he says here How sweet are thy words unto my taste. Yea sweeter than honey to my mouth. I'm thinking of a man in the Bible who had to make a choice between God's Word and honey.

Back in this day. They didn't have Fannie Mae candy and Turtles and all these kinds of delicacies that we have today and they're probably better off. The sweetest thing they knew the most marvelous dessert they could have was honey.

And of course honey is natural sweetness. Honey is is the is the sweetest thing that that nature produces. And He said I'd rather have the Word of God than have honey. You'll remember that Samson had to make that choice.

Samson went and found himself a wife. Came back to his parents and said I want to marry this girl. And when a year later he came back to get her remember what happened. When he went the first time this lion came and jumped at him and Samson just took the lion.

That was the end of the line. Threw its carcass off to one side. When Samson came back about a year later to get his wife He heard a buzzing sound and lo and behold there was the carcass of the lion. But some bees had made some honey in the carcass of the lion.

This is not unusual. Now Samson was a Nazarite and a Nazarite was never to cut his hair. He was never to drink wine or strong drink and he was never to touch a dead body and Samson had to make the choice.

Am I gonna pick up this dead body and get this honey? Or I'm am I gonna do the will of God? Am I gonna feed on God's Word or feed on the honey in the carcass of the lion? And he made the wrong choice and from that day Samson began to go down.

You say what's so wrong with what he did? He'd made a choice. His values begin to deteriorate. I'd rather have the honey from the carcass of the lion Than to have the pure Word of God. It finally ended up with Samson losing his power and losing his blessing and losing his life.

Someone here tonight says well, I'm gonna make a choice. I don't want want God's Word. I'll take this. It could be the beginning of the end. That could be the first step down. I'd rather have God's Word than have food.

Choosing Scripture Over Sleep and Laziness

Now the psalmist is an even greater fanatic than this if you think that's fanatical look at verse 55. I Have remembered thy name O Lord in the night and have kept thy law. Verse 62 at midnight. I will rise to get a snack out of the refrigerator.

At midnight, I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous Ordinances or thy righteous judgments. Verse 147 and 148 I anticipated the dawning of the morning and Cried. I hoped in thy word mine eyes anticipate the night watches.

That I might meditate in thy word. This man is really a fanatic. He says I'd rather have God's Word than have food and I'd rather have God's Word than have sleep. Now you'll forgive me, but this gets a little bit close to home the older we get the more difficult it is to get up and When the alarm goes off in the morning, we sing that old army song.

Oh how I hate to get up in the morning. I Suppose the secret of getting up in the morning is going to bed at night. That sounds pretty logical to me. But the psalmist says There are three watches in the night now.

The Romans had four watches the Jews had three watches from sunset to 10 o 'clock. And from 10 o 'clock to 2 o 'clock and then from 2 o 'clock to sunrise. These were the watches and the Jewish calendar the Jewish clock and he said before that new watchman shows up I'm awake to meditate in your word and at midnight in between watches I'm gonna meditate on your word and before the dawning Approaches I'm going to minute.

Does he ever get any sleep? The point he's making is that He'd rather have God's Word than have sleep. You know, it's so easy for us to excuse our laziness Doesn't take much. I've noticed that people who are good at excuses are rarely good at anything else over in Psalm 119 verse 164 he says seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous ordinances?

So seven times during the day and four times during the night. He's meditating on the Word of God and praising God for his word. This kind of beats our record does this never gotten the Guinness Book of Records, but it's there he'd rather have the Word of God than have sleep,.

I Mentioned to you this morning in this matter of sleep the two great mistakes the disciples made. They went to sleep on the Mount of Transfiguration. And missed that marvelous Bible conference. Moses and Elijah and Jesus discussing the cross.

They went to sleep in the Garden of Gethsemane and missed that wonderful Consecration service when Jesus prayed not my will thine be done would have done Peter some good to be awake, wouldn't it? Jesus said now wake up watch and pray.

The Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. You know, what makes the flesh strong? Sleeping when we ought to be praying. I Suppose everybody here tonight at one time or another has been sleeping when he should have been praying.

Now, I'm not suggesting that we'd necessarily all the time have to spend all night in prayer. I have spent nights in prayer some of the greatest experiences I've had have been with Peter Danica senior, you know all nights of prayer, but you can't keep this up night after night.

Somebody asked DL Moody one day. Have you ever prayed all night? He said yes, I have when I woke up the next morning from kneeling all night who was my body hurting. Some of us just aren't called to this kind of a thing, but that's not what he's saying.

He's simply saying there are choices to make. There needs to be some discipline in our lives. To be able to say no to the comforts of the body no to the pampering of the body and Yes to the feeding of the soul.

I'd rather have the Word of God and have sleep. Now he's following a good example here because this is the way Jesus was. I Read in Mark chapter 1 that after a busy busy day a busy Sabbath day. My Lord had been preaching and healing and helping people.

I'm sure he got to sleep very very late. But you know the next morning he was up early and went out to pray. Went out to listen to his father give him the Word of God. Now we have all kinds of excuses.

We all have physical Deficiencies. We all have body clocks and lifestyles. We know this. And we can use these as excuses if we want to. I'd rather have the Word of God says the psalmist and have Sleep.

Have you ever missed some sleep? To spend time with God's Word. You say I have a rough time getting up in the morning and being awake enough. Try going to bed at night works verse 14. He has a third expression here and he gets so fanatical.

Valuing Scripture Above Wealth and Material Spoil

You'll never believe it. I Have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. Verse 72. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver 127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold yea above fine gold 162.

I Rejoice at thy word is one that findeth great spoil. I'd rather have God's Word than have food. I'd rather have God's Word than have sleep. I'd rather have God's Word than have money that comes even closer to home now.

You can't live without money. Your Father in heaven knows that you have need of these things. Jesus said that It's not a sin to have money. It's a sin to love money and to be covetous. But the psalmist says in spite of the fact that riches are not of themselves sinful.

I'd rather have God's Word Than have riches, you know many times in the Bible God's Word is compared to treasure. In Proverbs chapter 2 he talks about digging for hid treasure. Searching after God's Word the way you'd go through a mine.

Go down to one of these diamond mines and dig for the diamonds. Get into a gold mine and dig for the gold. You won't find the treasures of God's Word falling out by themselves. You have to dig them out.

God doesn't want us to be a bunch of lazy people who just open the word and put it in a nickel and push a Button and out comes the treasure. Oh, no, you have to dig for it. He says I'd rather have God's Word than have treasure.

I think verse 162 is an interesting verse. Because in verse 162, he doesn't just talk about money or treasure. He talks about spoil. I Rejoice at thy word is one that findeth great spoil. You know, what spoil is first you fight a battle.

You get out there in the battlefield you fight a battle you win a victory then you get the spoil. You know what? He's saying to me when I come to my Bible to get treasures from it. The devil is gonna fight me.

When I come to my Bible to get treasures. Spiritual treasures. I can invest in my life in the lives of other people. It's not going to be easy. It's gonna be a battle. I've got to battle against the carnality of my mind and the selfishness of my heart and that spiritual Law of gravity that drags me down.

The devil fights me. He wants to pull the weeds out. I put the weeds in my heart and pull the seeds out. The birds come flying over and try to snatch the seed. It's not easy to study the Bible. It's not easy to meditate in God's Word.

It's difficult, but it's not impossible. And we have the Holy Spirit of God living within us to teach us and to help us mine out the treasures. And so he says I'd rather have God's Word than have spoil.

I'm thinking of a couple of people Who didn't believe in that? I'm thinking of a fellow named Aiken. Remember Aiken. They were going to take the city of Jericho and Joshua said to the army don't touch the spoil.

That belongs to God. And Aiken while he was cleaning things up saw some wedges of gold and some silver and a Babylonian garment and he took the spoil and forgot God's Word and Buried the spoil under his tent.

Remember that and Then Israel went out to fight the battle and they lost. They were defeated by the little old city of AI. They had taken Chicago, but they couldn't take some little city like st. Charles and They went before God and God came down said Joshua.

Stop your weeping. Stop your praying. There's sin in the camp. And so he got all the tribes together and narrowed it down to one tribe. Got all the families together and narrowed it down to one family and then he narrowed it down to one man, and it was Aiken and Aiken confessed and said I saw among the spoils and Aiken died and his family died with him.

Aiken sin was he'd rather have the spoils than have God's Word. I'm thinking of somebody else who made that same mistake. His name was Saul King Saul. God sent him out to destroy the Amalekites. He said wipe them off the face of the earth kill their cattle don't leave anything alive and Samuel came to see how Saul was and Saul said I have performed the Word of the Lord and just about that time Samuel heard The bleeding of the sheep and the lowing of the cattle, you know sin cannot be hidden very long.

Samuel says oh you have performed the will of the Lord. What's this noise? I hear. Oh, he said that's from the spoils. We're gonna give that to God. Samuel said to obey is better than to sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.

And you know what. Saul lost his kingdom because of that Saul lost his crown. Because he'd rather have spoiled and have the Word of God. I'm thinking of some people in the New Testament named Ananias and Sapphira.

Who would rather have money than have the Word of God and it killed them our values Determine Our lives. And the psalmist said I'd rather have the Word of God than have riches. Verse 23. How much is your Bible worth?

Scripture as Counsel and a Standard for Friendship

Princes also did sit and speak against me but thy servant did meditate in thy statues statutes. Thy Testimonies also are my delight and my counselors the the Hebrew of verse 24 reads thy Testimonies also are my delight and the men of my counsel.

If I want some counsel I go to the Word of God. It's my friend verse 51. The proud have had me greatly in derision yet. I have not declined from thy law. Verse 95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me, but I will consider thy testimonies.

Verse 115. Depart from me ye evildoers. For I will keep the commandments of my God. I'd rather have God's Word than have food. I'd rather have God's Word than have sleep. I'd rather have God's Word than have riches.

And he says I'd rather have God's Word than have friends. If it's a choice between being popular with the world and having the Word of God I'll take the Word of God even if princes Try to convince me.

I'm gonna meditate in the Word of God. Now you can just walk through your Bible and meet all kinds of people who made that decision. Abraham made that decision. He'd rather have the Word of God than have friends.

He even broke up with lot. His beloved nephew and lot went to Sodom and Abraham stayed in his tent and Which was the two. Which of the two did God bless he blessed Abraham. David had to make that decision.

Daniel had to make that decision. Daniel could have compromised in Babylon when in Babylon do as the Babylonians do. Who was there to care. His mother couldn't see his father couldn't see him. Joseph could have compromised in Egypt.

Do what the world does? Oh, no. He said I'd rather have the Word of God than have friends. And if standing true to the Word of God means Everybody's gonna be against me. That's all right. I'd rather have the Word of God than have friends.

This comes pretty close to home. It's very easy for our young people to go back to school and compromise. I don't mean we have to be hateful. Joseph wasn't hateful. Daniel wasn't hateful. He was very kind and gracious.

But he stayed stood true To the Word of God. And how easy it is for our young people to go back to school and say well. Five days a week on this campus I can compromise. And then I'll straighten myself up for Sunday.

No, it doesn't work that way all day long all week long. Said the psalmist I'd rather have God's Word than have my friends. Which leads us to question number two if our Bible is worth this much to us, what will it do for us?

The Blessings of Treasuring God's Word

What happens in the life of the person. What do you have When the Word of God is that important to you. Well, we'll just quickly turn the pages of Psalm 119 and find the blessings that God gives to those Who make the Bible important in their lives?

Verse 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Verse 11. Thy word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Here's the first blessing victory over sin.

So often people come and say pastor. I've got a problem with this temptation and that sin and we all do we all do. Each of us has some area where Satan tries to get in. And we strive in our own strength to fight him and we can't do it.

How did Jesus fight the devil. It is written. It is written. It is written. Paul said take the sword of the spirit. The psalmist said, you know because the Word of God is so important to me God has given me a special blessing.

The word gives me victory. Over sin. Thy word have I hid in that Hebrew word hid is treasured. Thy word have I treasured in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Several times in Psalm 119 you find him using an old English word quicken.

Here's the second blessing. Look at verse 25. My soul. Cleaveth to the dust. Quicken me revive me according to thy word. Verse 37. Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity and Quicken thou me. Revive me in thy way.

Look at verse 40. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts. Quicken me give me life in thy righteousness. Verse 50. This is my comfort in my affliction. For thy word hath given me life. Thy word hath quickened me.

Verse 88. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness. So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. Verse 93. I will never forget thy precepts for with them thou hast given me life. Thou has quickened me, you know, there's some Christians who are dead.

There's just spiritually dead. I'm not talking about personality. We have different personalities nor Intelligence nor talents nor gifts. I'm just simply talking about spiritual fervor. There are only three spiritual temperatures in the Bible hot cold and lukewarm.

And what he's saying here is this. Because I spend time in the word because the Word of God is important to me. I Have life. There's a reviving in me and God quickens me. It's a good thing to have verse 28.

Here's a third blessing that comes to the person who values the Word of God. Verse 28. My soul melteth for heaviness. Strengthened thou me. According to thy word the Word of God gives you strength. Now you say I've never faced that problem.

Then you may not be fighting too many battles must be something wrong. When you try to live for the Lord and serve the Lord you sometimes come to a place where you have no strength. Everything has just melted away.

The burden is heavy and the battle is heavy and you can say with the psalmist. My soul is melting with heaviness. Now, what do you do? Resign. That's the logical thing to do. Quit. Give up the Sunday school class.

Leave the choir. Quit. The psalmist said no if I want to get strengthened. I turned of the word and how many times you and I have experienced this. We've been ready to quit. The going has been tough and we've opened the Word of God.

And what has the Word done? The Word has strengthened us. How about verse 66? Here's another blessing we get if we make the Word of God valuable. Verse 66 teach me good judgment and knowledge. For I have believed thy commandments the Word gives us wisdom.

Now you don't find good judgment in the books that men, right? You don't get good judgment by taking vitamin E. Good judgment comes from the Word of God. It's amazing how many people don't have good judgment.

You know common sense is very uncommon. You say I need wisdom. I need good judgment then read your Bible the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of wisdom will take the Word of God which is the Word of wisdom and give to You wisdom beyond yourself.

You say I don't believe it. Well look at verse 97. Oh How love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day thou through thy commandments Has made me wiser than my enemies. You better be smarter than the enemy for they thy commandments are ever with me.

I Have more understanding than all my teachers. I don't take that verse back to the Institute with you. You might get into trouble. He's saying here. The fact that you've read books and gotten degrees does not mean you have wisdom.

Understanding that all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation. Verse 100 I understand more than the ancients. How about that age is no guarantee of wisdom. Old people can do stupid things just as much as young people can.

What he's saying here is I don't have to get my fingers burned by experience to get smart. I've learned it from the Word of God. I'm a little fearful of these people who say well, maybe the only way I'll learn it is by hard experience.

Why must you have scars? Why must there be tears and heartache and and bitter experience? You don't have to have it that way. Say well the school of experience is the best way to learn. Don't learn about sin in the school of experience.

Don't learn about the world in the school of experience, that's foolish. All you need to know about living this life is right here in this book. And when you treasure the Word of God God gives you wisdom.

Verse 130 the entrance of thy words giveth light it giveth. Understanding unto the simple you say my IQ is not very high. That's make any difference. God gives understanding to the simple. In fact, some of these people who think they're so smart can't learn anything from the Bible.