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I’m going to invite you this morning to Psalm. Chapter 19 is where we’re going to be at Psalm chapter nine, excuse me 119, Psalm chapter 119. We’re going to be at together. And this is a very powerful psalm. And one of the things I love about this Psalm is it is it is vital to a life in Jesus, what this Psalm means for us. We have this tendency sometimes as people is thinking in our spiritual journey that we’ve got to learn like some kind of special, unique things about our our faith journey that’s going to take us to that next level, you know, in your in your Christian walk. And truth be told, your Christian journey is not about learning a bunch of new things. It’s really about becoming disciplined in a few things like learning to walk deeper with Jesus and the things that God has given us. So whether you’re a a new Christian or you’ve been a Christian for years just to appreciate what God has given us for our faith journey. And Psalm 119 is that Psalm. Now, if you’re if you brought your Bible today, you’re going paperback rather than digital. Let me just tell you, the quickest way to find Psalm 119 is let your Bible open up to the very center it usually unless your Bibles got a bunch of notes to it. Psalm 119 is right about the middle of your Bible. And it’s next to what is the shortest chapter of the Bible.
So Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter of the Bible, which is important because when you look at Psalm 119, you discover this is actually the longest chapter of the Bible. So for those of you that might like to read the chapter of the Bible that we discuss on Sunday, knowing you’re about to read a longer chapter, if you’re not successful with that, you can make yourself feel better by reading Psalm 117 first. Right? So it’s only two verses. So you read that and then you can look at Psalm 119, which is 176 verses. In this 176 verses, it’s written in an acrostic and it’s broken into chunks. There’s 22 sections in Psalm 119, and each one of those sections has eight verses. And the way the acrostic is written in Psalm 119, every section of the 22 sections begins with a Hebrew letter of their alphabet. So if you want to learn the Hebrew alphabet, just look at Psalm 119 every eight verses. It’s the it’s a new letter of the alphabet. And when you’re looking at this, each verse, each verse begins with the corresponds to the letter that represents that section that you’re reading. And so section one first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, section two, which is where we’re going to be today Beth is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And on it goes. Every one of the verses starts with that letter that matches the section that you’re reading in.
And so we’re, we’re not going to look at all of 176 verses today so we can thank the Lord. You know, that would be a lot to get through, but we are going to look at just a section of it, and we’re going to look at the second section of, of, of this Hebrew psalm to us starting in verse nine down to verse 16. And as we look at this Psalm, we should ask ourselves the question, what would compel someone to write such a long psalm? Like, what do they want us to know? Because as we’ve we’ve studied these Psalms together, one of the things I’ve reminded us of is that this Psalm is intended to to to teach us about our relationship to the Lord and how to respond to God and worship in light of who he is. One of the things that makes the Psalm unique from all other books of the Bible, the rest of the Bible is really God teaching us about himself. But the Psalms are. It’s man’s response back to God in worship. How do we learn to engage God in the season of life? Where we find ourselves in? Psalm 119 is one of those Psalms that’s teaching us something critical. Critical? What does that mean? Critical about our own faith journey in him. And so we’re going to talk about this together. Four important lessons from Psalm 119 that we need to discover in our relationship with the Lord and not just discover it.
To truly appreciate it. Number one, is this in your notes? It is a gift to be able to know God and follow him. It is a gift to be able to know God and follow him. I hope this morning one of the things that we just learned to readily recognize as people, and something that we’ve got to acknowledge we can often lose sight of, is the gift that it is to have a relationship with the Lord. And you see this reflected in the psalm, in the Psalm that we’re in. I think the part of the psalm that draws that out most beautifully is verse ten, the first half of verse ten. The psalmist is saying, with my whole heart I seek you. And we’re going to find as we read this Psalm, is the reason the psalmist is even saying this is because God has revealed himself to us. And so the psalmist is diving into that. What does it mean to know God? Probably verse two is another verse that corresponds to this, which isn’t on the screen, but it talks about the idea of that. Again, this whole heart surrendered to the Lord and wanting to know him. And the only reason we’re able to do that is because God has revealed himself to us. And it’s just a beautiful thought as we look at this Psalm together.
And to just stop and say, man, what you have in the Lord is precious. Now for some of us it may we may be at the very beginning of that where we were just willing to walk in a church door on Sunday. But let me just tell you, whatever compelled you to get here, and it may be even a messy thing. The fact that you’re here with a willingness to want to know about the Lord and In our opportunity to even have the privilege to do that is a gift we should not forget. And whatever is taking, taking you to get to this moment of where you are in your faith journey, it is precious. And I hope that we can appreciate the gift of what that is. And I’m not saying like just intellectually know about God. I’m saying a genuine relationship with the Lord. It’s the most important thing about who you are as a human being. Because learning about who God is will then help you discover who you are. And the discovering who you are will lead you down a path of then how you live your life. Everything we do as human beings is determined by a belief, whether we acknowledge that belief or not. But we’ve got to recognize that the important place that we should be able to go to in order to understand that belief is rooted in God, because he is the origin of all things.
And so if I want to live my life the right way. I’ve got to first understand who I am. And if I want to understand who I am, I’ve got to understand who he is. Because who he is determines who I am and then how I live, at least in a healthy way. It should. Everything I do is is determined by a belief, and it is a gift to know God and to be able to follow him. Theologians refer to it in a couple different ways when they think about God categorically. First, they acknowledge that God is a transcendent being, meaning because he is omnipotent and eternal and omniscient. There are things about God I cannot fully apprehend. He transcends me. He is holy. He is beyond. He is other. But at the same time, we recognize as we come to understand God, that he’s also immanent, that he desires to be made known, and he’s made himself personal so that we could relate to him, that he didn’t leave us alone in this world. And and so by by understanding who he is, I is. I get to understand who I am created to be in him and therefore live my life accordingly. And Psalm 119 begins in in that that thought of reflecting it. In fact, if I just turn to some other passages that carry this, this heart or this thought John, chapter 17, verse three says it like this.
This is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I’ve always found this as an interesting verse, because if I were to give a quiz to us this morning and I don’t plan on doing that, okay, it’s just a no. Just breathe. Breathe easy there. But if I were to say to you, okay, here in this quiz, one of the first things I want you to do is define for me eternal life. I have a feeling most of us would define it like this. Eternal life is living forever. But I want you to know that’s not the way that Scripture defines eternal life. The way John defines eternal life for us in this passage is only rooted in a relationship with the Lord. Eternal life is about knowing him because he himself is the source of all life. And it’s only through your relationship with the Lord that then you discover what life is and what life is intended to be about. And so recognizing the and appreciating the importance of the gift of not just intellectually knowing about God, but having a genuine, genuine relationship with God is critical for all of us. And then following after him in that. Lord, help me and all the things that I try to make life about and the complexity of life to just stop in the moment and appreciate the gift that it is to know you.
I mean, maybe even this week would be a good week to just not watch the news at all and just rest in the comforting presence of a sovereign God who wants to be known in your life. Even the apostle Paul, he he he categorizes it like this. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. I mean, he’s saying like this. Whatever he had made his life about up until this point, he realized it was nothing in comparison to discovering his purpose in life by discovering the one who created him, which is only routed through a relationship with the Lord. He says, indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. He’s saying that this relationship reoriented all things in his life, because he understood who he was in light of who God was, and understanding God helped him then discover everything in light of that. And guys, it’s the same thing for all of us. We all want to know we matter. We all want to know we’re important. And what you look to, to discover that is critical. And sometimes we have this erroneous way of trying to find who we are in the things of this world, or even in relationship to other people.
And this passage is saying, look, it’s not saying relationships with others aren’t important. I mean, today is Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day, by the way. That’s an important role in our life and in society. You tend to, no matter what society you live in. If men don’t walk according to the way God has called you to, women and children suffer. And that’s not to demean or undermine the role of the importance of women in society or children. But it’s to say, guys, do you is your life awakened to the significance of what it is to know God and walk with him for the benefit of others, and allowing that relationship to take preeminence? You know, some people like to rank it like, well, in my life, you know, my my relationship with God is first. And, you know, my marriage is second and my kids are third. And then I don’t know what you put next. Church job, I don’t know. People sometimes try to rank those things and and no doubt some relationships are more important than others like it should. You know, your relationship with Jesus should first impact your home before anything else, and it needs to impact your church community. And then it should impact your your culture around you. Those things are true. But rather than try to rank everything, what we should discover is like, my relationship with Jesus helps me reorient everything and to the place it’s intended to be.
My relationship with Jesus is critical to understand who I am, so that way I don’t look for my validation in things of this world because I’m already confident in who I am in regards to who God is, and therefore my life can be poured out to the benefit of others because I find my identity in him and the Apostle Paul when he’s giving this statement, I think what’s critical to recognize is he’s making the statement in Philippians three on the backdrop of religion. And Paul’s not only saying as he counted everything as rubbish, what Paul is actually saying is his whole religious life, he was the most religious out of anybody. That’s how he identified himself in the first six verses of this chapter. And then he goes on and says, But I’ve put religion behind me for one purpose, to make my life oriented around this idea, to know Jesus and to follow him. So when you’re thinking in terms of the importance of Psalm 119, this is this is critical for all of us to understand that we’re made to to know God and to have a relationship with him. That is the primary reason for which God has created you, and he wants you to enjoy that for all of eternity. As John 17 verse three says, God made you for this reason. But the question that we should follow up with is then how? How do we do that? A critical question for all of us.
But let me give you point number two. And we’ll talk about it says the way I know God, then, the way I know God is through His Word and the way I know God is through His Word. In fact, this is the very foundation of what Psalm 119 is about. Psalm 119 is about reminding us of the importance of who God is through His Word. When you look at the acrostic in 22 sections, all representing a different Hebrew letter of the alphabet, each one of these acrostics are reiterating to us the importance of God’s Word. And the author of Psalm 119 is really carrying the same thematic idea in each section. This is why we’re only focusing on one section. And it’s it’s really reminding you and me that we have this tendency of untethering ourselves to the importance of that. This is why I say Psalm 119 in the Christian journey is not about learning, you know, some kind of new truth that you can become a deeper level Christian. It’s really getting more disciplined in specific truths that we should already know as as believers. The significance of God’s Word and what it means for my life in order to know God. Because here’s what we have. We all have this tendency of bringing baggage from this world in our own hearts and lives into our own faith journey with the Lord.
Sometimes it’s wild when you travel the world and you get to places where Christianity was not practiced for many centuries, and there was this cultural worship system that some people groups had, and, and all of a sudden that culture came to know Christ. And then they kind of take the baggage of that culture, and they extrapolate it into their Christianity and their brand of Christianity. You can kind of see some Jesus things in it, but sometimes it comes out really weird. Like, man, this is like animistic, like ancestral worship. I don’t know, whatever. Just kind of mixed in with a Jesus thought. And we all have that tendency of doing this, taking the baggage of our past and bring it into our Christian journey. Even even sometimes when I talk to people that might be from an atheist background, like I’ll ask them, you know why? Why don’t you believe in a god? Or why don’t you follow a god? And I’ll and I’ll say, describe to me the the God that you don’t like and or the God that you think if it existed would be. And then they go on to describe whatever they think God might be. And the God they describe is a terrible monster. And that’s when I say to them like, yeah, that makes sense. If I thought that God was real, I wouldn’t follow him either. Right? Like it is critical for all of us to say, look, I know I come with baggage, but man, I just want to open your word, God, and for you to tell me who you are, not for me to to come with all this extra stuff, but to to understand you in light of it.
And so, God, teach me, give me an understanding of of who you are. And so verse, verse, let me read this, verse nine and ten says it like this. How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. Not with the baggage, but rather God. Let your word direct me with my whole heart. I seek you, God. Don’t let me wander from your commandments. You know, we all have this tendency of trying to usurp what God’s Word says, even in our own culture. Like sometimes we’ll treat God’s Word like this. Like I believe God’s Word gives me good guidance. But then there’s times where I don’t like what God’s Word says. And so while it does guide me when when those moments arise, rise up, I want to follow what I want rather than what God’s Word says, because I trust in myself more than what God’s Word says. And so we’ll we’ll use God’s idea, sort of like a suggestion book or God’s Word as a suggestion book and more leaning to ourselves rather than the Lord. And I think one of those words that draws that out better than any other is that word commandment.
And for you rebels at heart, you’ll read that word and think, make me right. Like that’s what rests in you is you. You read a word like that and you’re like, you know God sometimes until you say that and then I defy you. You’re like a you’re like a spiritual toddler in that sense, right? You just you kind of want to go along with mom and dad when it feels fun. But that C word comes out and you’re like, no thank you. Right. And so we, we, we war against God in that way. And it’s really helping us begin to recognize what we are trusting in. And let’s just acknowledge this, that whether it’s God’s command or something else, there is there’s something that’s governing the decisions of your life. The question is, what is it? Because if you refuse to let it be the Lord, you’re allowing something to dictate and determine who you are. It’s the place you’re discovering your worth and your meaning. And maybe we should just ask, how does that work out for you? When it comes to the idea of God’s commandment, sometimes we’re reluctant to receive it because, to be honest, we don’t fully trust him. We trust ourselves more. And so in that situation, it’s critical to really learn God. What is your heart about and truly teach me who you are. Because what you discover when you find the Lord is that he is life itself.
And God’s desire is to make himself known in you so that you can discover who you are in light of him, and really walk in joy in relationship with him in this world. And so God help me understand that. And and you know, when I say to you something like, well, the way that we discover who God is, is through His Word, and I understand sometimes we may object to that immediately say, wait, wait, wait. I thought I thought that was Jesus, right? Like I thought if I wanted to discover who God was, what I needed is Jesus. And to that I would say yes. Like, if you really want to know who God is, you definitely need to look at Jesus, because the Bible reminds us the importance of that over and over. Right? John chapter one, verse 18, it says it like this. No one has ever seen God. If anyone ever tells you they’ve seen God, say, no one has ever seen God, right? Like that’s what John 118 says. Have you want another another verse first Timothy 616, or we’re going to read another one in a minute in Colossians 115 that says the same thing. If anyone ever claims to you they have seen God, like you can just say, this is speaking in terms of God the Father. Like the Bible says. That’s not possible. So only one thing can be true.
Here you are, the Bible, right? So no one has ever seen God. The only God. Now, talking about Jesus is the only God who is at the father’s side. He has made him known. So this is what it’s saying. You want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. And sometimes we have this perception of God that he is this angry, judgmental being. And then if you if you talk to that person that maybe feels that way about God and you say, well, tell me what you think Jesus is like. And they just describe Jesus as a very endearing way. I mean, you can say that person, look, there’s there’s some kind of disconnect in your understanding of God because Jesus is the word of God or God made flesh, as John tells us. And so the way you describe Jesus, that he is God. And this is what it’s saying to us in John 118 or Colossians 115, he talking about Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Again, it’s saying God is invisible. Somebody tells you they’ve seen God the Father. He’s invisible. You can’t do that. But. But Jesus is the tangible experience of God. He’s God made flesh. So if you want to know what God’s like, look at Jesus. Colossians two nine for in him the fullness of God is of deity, dwells in bodily form, so the whole fullness of God in bodily form.
Again, if you want to know what God’s like, look at Jesus or Hebrews one three. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Again it’s saying the same thing. He is the exact imprint of his nature. So the nature of God made known in Jesus because Jesus is God. So if you want to know what God is like in a personal way, look at Jesus because he is God in the flesh. But then we still beg the question, well, how do you know Jesus? And the answer for us takes us back to the same place. Well, the way that you know Jesus is through God’s Word. And in fact, in Luke chapter 24, if you remember this story in the Gospels, this is after Jesus’s resurrection. And he he joins two individuals after his resurrection, he joins two individuals who are walking on the streets to to Emmaus and to them he is a stranger. So Jesus in his resurrected form, appears to these two individuals and starts walking the streets with them. And they’re actually talking about the idea of Jesus’s resurrection and what that might mean. And Jesus while he’s walking with them. It says this in verse 27, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he Jesus interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
And so what Jesus is doing is he’s taking the Word of God, and he’s helping him understand how everything in God’s Word points them back to him. And then they begin to realize that this is actually Jesus walking with them. And as soon as they recognize that, Jesus disappears from them because this is the same, the same thing for you and for me, that if you want to know God, know His Word. And this is this is not just an exercise of just trying to do this because you’re supposed to do this. This is about realizing this is God revealing himself to you so that you can have that relationship with him. And this is invaluable for all of us to recognize that God desires to make himself known, that theologians refer to the the idea of God being transcendent. He is holy. He is other, but also he is imminent. He’s personal. He’s he desires to make himself known. In fact, when when theologians refer to these two ideas of God, he they tend to refer to God’s revelation in two ways. There’s a general revelation of God, and there’s a special revelation of God. And both are important. But if you had to rank, which is more important? The special revelation of God is critical for us. And sometimes I even had this happen to me in the last week where someone tells me that quote, they’re a follower of Jesus, and I just ask him where they fellowship, and they tell me that their church is the mountains.
Right? And and like, I get that, like, I like I like going up to the mountains. I like getting to the top of the mountains, looking out. There are places where you go in life that they sometimes will just take your breath away and, and encourage you to stand in all of the divine hand of your creation made by your creator. Right? You just you wonder at the the greatness of who God is. Like Psalm eight talks about that in his creation. Revelation one. Psalm 19 talks about the the world that God has created is the evidence of his handiwork, and it inspires our heart to stand in all. And. But theologians refer to that as a general revelation, meaning we get this general idea that there is a creator, and that’s important. But but more than that, you also need to have special revelation in who God is. And the Bible tells us there’s two places for that. Jesus says in John chapter 14, verse six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And then Jesus prays in John 1717, sanctify them through truth. Your word is truth. Meaning the foundation for Christianity. The special revelation for God of God for us is this Jesus made known in the flesh and the Word of God.
And if you want to specifically know who God is, not just in a general way, but particularly walk with him, look at Jesus, and look at His Word. In fact, the foundation of Christianity is built on those two ideas. Is Jesus who he says he is, who Christians claim him to be? And is the Word of God reliable? And if it is, it becomes the foundation for us and being able to enjoy the journey of knowing God. And this is critical for all of us because of the challenges that we find in life. In fact, I had a friend that she passed away from cancer recently, and she used to say this, anytime I come across a new Christian, the first place I want to take them to is Psalm 119, because I want them to see how much the psalmist just reminds us again and again to appreciate God’s Word in our life. And I know if a believer begins to grab Ahold of that, that no matter where their faith journey takes them from there, they’re going to be okay as long as they walk with the understanding of what Psalm 119 says to us and appreciating the value of God’s Word. In fact, if I if I gave you another passage. Second Timothy chapter three says it like this. And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. Now let me let me just stop here and say this. I’ll read the last verse in just a second. It’s recognizing the importance of Scripture. Verse 15. And then it says this. It’s inspired by God, it’s breathed out, and it wants you to to to have this idea in mind, you know, in Genesis chapter one and two, when God made creation, it tells us God speaks in life begins, God speaks in life begins. In fact, God breathed into you and you became a living being. In Genesis chapter two, you know that Word of God is life, and that same life that brought things into existence is that same Word of God that’s breathed into Scripture. The power of God made known in these pages as you. As you discover who he is and it tells you it’s profitable for for teaching, it’s showing you who he is right for, for reproof. It’s showing you where you’re wrong, and it’s guiding you down that path so that you you follow after him. That’s what verse 16 is saying. And then verse 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Everything that God has called you to in this world is found in His word, right? And so discovering who God is in His word becomes critical for all of us.
Let me give you a few examples practically why this is important. I was talking to a missionary from. He served in Europe for several years, several decades, and he’s at the end of his life. He’s retired. And someone asked him, how were you able to remain faithful to the Lord, even to the Lord, even in days when you’re discouraged? And he actually he turned to the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and 12 and he said, you know, even good things can pull me away from the things of the Lord. And I was very mindful of that in the beginning. In fact, he said, you know, if you read Hebrews chapter 11, it’s considered the hall of faith. And in the Hall of Faith, it talks about all these great saints before us and the things they did in the Lord. And it’s very encouraging to us. But he said, but there’s one thing that governed me above all things. And while those things are certainly encouraging to read, as soon as you get to chapter 12, it says this. And now let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross. And what he’s saying is, while there are good things that encourage me in life, I never let it take me away from from moving my eyes off of Jesus.
I always understood that my faith journey is about Jesus. And let me tell you why that’s critical for you and for me. It’s because sometimes on this Christian journey, we can have people around us that are encouraging. And sometimes on this Christian journey, I can have people around me that are discouraging. But the reason I do or don’t follow Jesus isn’t because of them. The reason I follow Jesus is because of him. It’s because of Jesus. And if we aren’t careful, we can build our faith on someone else. And if someone if that person disappoints me in, in so doing, I can wane in my own relationship with Jesus. And while it’s wonderful to have people around you to encourage you, that’s important. I’ve got to understand, at the end of the day, people can disappoint me. And the reason I follow Jesus isn’t because of people. It’s because of Jesus. Who Jesus is. And so my my own journey with Jesus is is critical. Now. It’s not to take away from the from the significance of community. Like we all need community. We want to be known and we want to appreciate life together. God created us as beings to to show our love for him and how we walk in community with each other. And so community definitely has a place. But I’ve got to understand that people are people, and sometimes people get people.
E and and my relationship with Jesus should take precedence over all things. Now I want to delight in the joy of doing that with people around me, but I don’t want it to determine who I am. Jesus does that, and I want the goodness of Jesus to to pour out of my life, you know. You know what the reasons, other reasons I give you why this is critical. And I got to do this fast. But sometimes people will come to you and say, you know, I have this deep seated belief. And you might ask them, well, where does that come from? And they just say, because I had a positive feeling, right. Like it just it feels good. So therefore it must be right. But but here’s, here’s the reality for all of us, like every religion on the planet has someone that has had a positive experience in that religion. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be there, right? Like and so feelings. While feelings have a place, they’re not the determiner of what’s true, because every religion in the world has someone that’s had positive feelings in it, right? So the question for us should be, well, how do you determine what’s true? Because when you look at all the religions in the world, they can’t all be true because they teach something different about God. They can all be wrong, that’s for sure. But they can’t all be true. So how do you determine who’s right or who’s wrong? It’s got to be on a deeper basis than just feeling.
It’s like sometimes I use this example that one of you this morning might have this strong feeling that gravity no longer exists, right? And someone else may have this strong feeling that we should probably still believe in gravity. And so how do you determine who’s right or wrong? You know, you can believe something sincerely and be sincerely wrong. So how do you determine. And the reality is, is you’ve got to go to an external source. And the way that we would discover that is we’re going to put both of you on the roof today. And the one that stopped believing in gravity will just have you demonstrate it by pushing you off the side. Right. You have to have an external source. And the reason for you and for me, like the reason it’s bad for you to become the determiner of truth, is that you didn’t create it. Truth existed before you, and it’s going to exist after you. And in fact, Jeremiah 17 nine tells us, our heart is deceitful above all things. Meaning, no matter how much you might sincerely believe it, you could be wrong and you could even emotionally think that you’re right and still be wrong. So how do we look for that? The Bible encourages us that you have to have a source outside of yourself, and the Word of God is that foundation in Christianity.
In addition to that, can I can I just hear one more example and I’ll give you these last two points quickly. There is a phrase in in our world today that sometimes I hear and I often recoil at it because I think it is the most abused phrase and probably all of history. And I’m not saying it can’t happen, but what I am saying is people use it very manipulatively to to get a power for a power struggle over someone else. And that is this phrase God told me, God told me And someone comes to you and they tell you something and you’re like, well, how do you know that? God told me. What do you do with that? Like, oh my gosh, right? God told you like he did not tell me. Well, he told you like, how do you how do you walk through that? Like, what do you do when someone tells you that even as a pastor, I gotta tell you, sometimes people will try to tell me things, to try to manipulate me, to get me to do something that they want. And the way it’s phrased is, Pastor God told me that he wants you to do this. How do you respond to that? Is important. Like, I’m not telling you that. That’s not a possibility. But what I do want to tell you is you got to be careful with phrases like that.
You don’t want to just flippantly say that or claim to speak on behalf of God. And God forbid you speak on behalf of God and then meet him face to face one day. And what you said was wrong. God told me. I typically respond, you can choose how you want to respond to that. I just will just kindly say, well, if God cares enough about that, he can tell me to if that’s what God wants. And in fact, I would just say this. Truth be told, according to Second Timothy three, God has already told me what he wants me to know, and if I if I want to be serious about it, I would discover it in His word. Because second Timothy 316 tells me, God has given me everything for my life, so that verse 17, I can live the life he’s called me to live. And can I just be honest? Sometimes we obsess a lot about what is it God wants me to do, right? Like you’ll read even if I see if I can click ahead. If it’s. I’ll come back to that. If you read the rest of this, this section, we’ll see it in a minute. But it talks about the commandments and statutes and laws of God, you know, wanting to appreciate it. And we’ll read that and think I got to figure this out. God wants me to do things. If I don’t do it, God’s going to be ticked that I’m not following his commands and his laws and his statutes.
I got to be doing, doing, doing. What is it God wants me to do? But can I tell you the interest of the Psalm is much, much greater than that. God’s not primarily interested in what you’re doing. If I said it like this, people sometimes ask the question, What’s God’s will for my life? God’s will for your life is not primarily driven by what you’re doing. God’s primary interest in your life is who you’re becoming and the way you discover who you are. What you’re to become is only found in a relationship with him. Who he is determines who you are. And if you discover who you are in light of who he is, can I just tell you? The rest will take care of itself. You’ll learn what it means to walk the path with the Lord, because you’re walking with the Lord and he’s shaping who you are. God is far more interested in who you’re becoming than he is in what you’re doing. It’s not to say what you’re doing doesn’t matter, but who you’re becoming is far more important. In fact, in acts chapter 17, it says, now the Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with eagerness, and they examined the scriptures daily to determine if it was true. Here’s here’s what it’s saying is like there’s what people said to them as they were being taught, like today.
But at the end of the day, they wanted to go to a chapter and verse and say, where does God’s Word say this? Because they understood God has given them everything that they need to live their life according to the way God has called them to. So let me give you point number three. A true follower makes his word a priority. So, so knowing this, we make God’s Word a priority. It says in verse 11, I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. So it’s saying, look, the value of this is like not just knowing what your word says, but make it at the core of my being. Verse 15 talks about meditating on it. It’s I am becoming what it says because this word is shaping me. And so it has to be a priority of my life. And maybe I should just ask you this morning because I’m running out of time here, but how does your time in God’s Word look? I mean, even this past week, corporately, we want to spend time in God’s Word together. But even individually, how is God’s Word shaping you? There’s several studies out that they talk about the power of the for effect, the power of the number for effect, and what it is. What they’ve noticed over the years is if there are people that genuinely love Jesus and are following after him, if they take four times a week in God’s Word, if they’re doing at least four times a week, spending time in God’s Word, that the impact it’s making on their life is significant.
And there are several studies. I mean, you can get online and Google this on the impact God’s Word makes on my life as I am actively spending time with God at least four times a week. I mean, studies say things like, you’re 30% less likely to feel lonely. 32% less likely to have anger issues. 40% less bitterness in relationships. 57% less to struggle with alcoholism. 68% less likely to have sex outside of marriage. 60% feeling spiritual, away from spiritual stagnation. 61% viewing pornography less. 200%. Sharing your faith more. 230% discipling others. More. That comes from a study of center for Bible Engagement. I mean, Harvard even has a study from 2020 where it says you’re 33% less likely to be depressed, 29% more likely to have a high life satisfaction, 50% more likely to volunteer, and more likely to support strong relationships and habits of gratitude. I mean, there are multiple studies on that, but and I’m not saying, look, pick up God’s Word and just use it as a manipulative tool to improve your quality of life. What I think is driving those individuals is a love for Jesus and wanting to know him.
And that’s what we should be spurred by. When you read Psalm 119. This is not saying feel guilty for not reading God’s Word. That’s not what this is saying. This is saying, does your heart recognize that your life is created to know God, and God cares enough to make himself known, and he’s giving you his word to know him. How much of a priority is it in our lives? Let me give you the last point. A true follower will align their life with the word. A true follower will align their life with the word. And again, this isn’t guilt driven, but this is joy driven that I can know God. And God desires to know me, to walk with me. Because eternal life is about a relationship with the Lord forever. So let me close with this because I got like, 30s and I got to be done. I didn’t read the rest of it. I’m sorry. Verse 12 to 16 if you want to. I ran out of time. Ran out of time. William Tyndale. He’s he’s really responsible for you having the English Bible today. As the as the Gutenberg press was invented, and and the word of God could get more readily available. It was actually illegal to have the Bible in any other copy other than Latin. And because it was illegal, Christians started to fight for people in their in, in their own native tongue to have a copy of God’s Word.
In fact, William Tyndale, reflecting on Psalm 119, fought for this as he thought about the importance of God’s Word. And then he even said things like, you know, when you read the book of acts, when first two chapters of acts, when Peter preaches the first message to the early church, everyone heard God’s Word in their native tongue. We should all have the ability to hear God’s Word in its native tongue so that we could learn about the Lord. To William, Tyndale is known for saying, I want the regular plowboy to know God’s Word better than the religious leaders of my day, but because it was illegal, eventually William Tyndale was martyred for translating God’s Word into English, and at his death he gave one final prayer. He said, Let the King of England have his eyes opened. And one year later the King of England’s eyes were opened, and he legalized the Bible in English so that we could have it today. Now people have given their life to God’s Word, so that you and I could have it. Knowing how precious it is and how freeing it becomes to the soul. God’s word is the place you meet Jesus in order to walk with him. In discovering that, hopefully you see the significance of the cross, because that’s where we truly see the display of God’s love that we can find freedom, forgiveness, hope for eternity.