We have looked at a number of areas concerning the Word of God over the last several weeks. Tonight we come to a section of the longest chapter in the Bible that deals with a number of areas that we need to be reminded of from time to time. The value of the Word of God to us personally. Consider them with me tonight.
I. The Protection Of God's Word v41
"Let Thy mercies come also unto me, 0 LORD, even Thy salvation, according to Thy word."
A. The need for the mercies of God:
1. The Scriptures abound with examples of God's mercy coming to others.
2. Remember the way God's mercies came to Abraham when he was a man in Ur of the Chaldees.
a. Those mercies rescued him from darkness.
b. The light of God's Word burst in on his soul; he heard God's voice speaking to him.
c. He recognized that Word for what it was, the revelation of the true and living God, speaking with authority and majesty, and he responded at once.
d. He was rescued forever from the darkness of Babylonian religion to become the father of all those who believe.
3. We recall the way God's mercies came to Jonah when he was inside the whale.
a. Jonah called it "the belly of hell."
b. There he experienced the horrors-and pangs of a lost eternity-to which he had been only too willing to consign the people of Nineveh.
c. As that mighty fish sounded the depths of the sea, Jonah's heart sank with it.
d. Then God's Word came to him, rescuing him from despair.
e. He tells how he prayed using quote after quote from the psalms.
f. God's Word set his soul free, and brought him to the place where he pledged himself to obey God's Word and resulted in a change in his hopeless circumstances.
B. God's Word offers us protection on the journey home, protection from doubt and despair, from sin and from the sorrow it brings.
1. God's Word is one of the three strands in that threefold cord of confidence which holds fast when strong tides lift and cables strain.
2. Our assurance of salvation rests on the Word of God, the work of Christ, and the witness of the Spirit.
3. The psalmist is thankful for the Word of God which tells him about the mercies of God and the salvation He provides.
II. The Power Of God's Word v42
"So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in Thy word."
A. Behind that word reproacheth is the idea of contempt and mockery.
1. The wisdom of this world is opposed to the wisdom of God's Word.
2. As has been said, young people entering college often are forced to make a choice between God and man.
3. Brilliant minds confront them, subtle philosophies entangle them, clever arguments will seduce them unless they take a stand immediately on the Word of God.
B. There is power in the Word of God, power our adversaries cannot withstand.
1. Satan's first goal in the Garden of Eden was to persuade Eve to set aside God's Word.
2. The moment she did that He could tell her anything.
3. If the attack does not come from without, it will come from within our minds.
4. The battleground is not in the body, it is in our minds.
5. The story is told of a young boy who had been recently been saved.
a. John 3:16 had been the verse that he had trusted when he accepted Christ.
b. In bed that night, however, doubts came upon him.
c. Was it really true? Had anything really happened?
d. He didn't feel any different… perhaps he really wasn't saved after all.
e. He remembered hearing the story of how Satan had tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
f. He had been told that Satan loved darkness and the darkest place in the room that night was under the bed.
g. So he opened his Bible to John 3:16, put his finger on the verse, stuck the Bible under the bed, and said, "Here! Read it for yourself."
C. The psalmist decided likewise to exercise the power of God's Word.
1. "Here, read it for yourself" is the best answer to scoffers.
2. There is power, mighty power, in God's Word.
3. We don't have to defend the Bible; it is able to defend itself.
III. The Proof Of God's Word v43
"And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in Thy judgments."
A. The psalmist wanted nothing in his life or circumstances that would give his enemies a handle against him.
1. Often we find ourselves in situations where it seems as if God's Word has failed.
2. The foe is quick to pounce on such things.
3. The skeptic picks out some grave injustice done to a believer and says, "There! Explain that."
4. Many things in life seem to nullify the truth of the Bible, at least to the satisfaction of the unbeliever.
B. God, however, is not working to the puny time scale of microscopic man.
1. He is working for eternity, and His Word is made of the stuff of which eternity is made.
2. The ultimate truth of God's Word may sometimes be seen at once, sometimes not for centuries.
3. Note 2 Peter 3:3-9
4. As faithful believers, we should not be troubled by seeming delays.
5. We know that God's Word is true no matter what immediate circumstances say.
6. The psalmist longed that circumstances would vindicate the truth of God's Word.
7. One day they will… There is a time element as well as a trust element in God's promises.
IV. The Permanence Of God's Word v44
"So shall I keep Thy law continually, for ever and ever."
A. Temporary delays and seeming setbacks were not going to undermine the psalmist's faith.
B. We must bring our life into line with the eternal truths of Scripture, not the shifting sands of society or public opinion.
C. We need to link ourselves to the permanence of God's Word.
V. The Path Of God's Word v45
"And I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts."
A. Most people would not describe walking according the Word the way the psalmist did.
1. They might describe the life of faith as bondage rather than liberty.
2. "You can't do this, can't do that, can't go here, can't go there."
3. To the unsaved man, it seems like a life filled with restrictions.
4. But the psalmist saw God's law as the perfect law of liberty.
5. It did not mean he could do whatever he wanted; it meant he could do whatever God willed.
6. And that, he says, is true freedom.
B. Those who refuse to walk in God's ways bring themselves into bondage.
1. They are soon bound by the shackles of sin.
2. Jesus said, "He that committeth sin is the slave of sin."
3. How many millions of people are slaves to drugs and drink, to tobacco, to bad temper, to pride, to evil passions.
C. The first lie propagated on this planet promised liberty from having to do what God required.
1. Eve swallowed Satan's lie.
2. Adam bought into it as well, and they soon found that the freedom they had been promised wasn't freedom at all.
3. Jesus declared that the truth is what sets us free!
4. Only when we know and obey the truth will we experience true liberty.
VI. The Principles Of God's Word v46
"I will speak of Thy testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed."
A. Paul did that, Jesus did that, Joseph did that, Daniel did that.
B. We have nothing to be ashamed of in God's Word.
1. It has stood the test of time.
2. It has commanded the allegiance of some of the world's finest thinkers.
3. We stand alongside some of the greatest human beings who ever lived.
4. We need not be ashamed of this Book.
5. It has the answers to all the questions of mankind.
VII. The Pleasures Of God's Word v47
"And I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved."
A. Not many get their pleasure out of studying God's Word.
B. We find pleasure in so many other things, but we tend to view the Word of God as something to be endured rather than enjoyed.
C. But if we can begin to learn the value of the Word of God to us and to this world, our attitude will change.
VIII. The Potential Of God's Word v48
"My hands also will I lift up unto Thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in Thy statutes."
A. The psalmist's hands are upraised, reaching up to grasp God's law.
1. That is what the law was intended to do-make us reach up.
2. It was given on a mountain peak.
3. Because it expresses God's holiness, its standards are those of perfection.
4. God does not lower His standards, He does not compromise with sin, He does not accommodate Himself to our low level of behavior.
5. He makes us reach up. He makes us lift up our hands to His commandments. 6. That means we have to lift up our hearts as well.
B. But God Reached Down.
1. With all our reaching up, we still cannot reach high enough.
2. We are still sinners who fall short of God's glory.
3. That is why He has reached down.
The Word of God is valuable to us in so many ways. Tonight I pray that we have been challenged to make a greater commitment to His Word. To study it, to obey it, to live it, and to share it with others.