Praise, Power and Peace in the Psalm #6: God’s Word
Text: Psalm 119
Introduction: Over a century ago, the Pony Express was yesterdays overnight
delivery service. This was a mail
delivery service that took letters from the east to the west as fast as was
possible. The riders changed horses and
then would pass the mail satchel to the next rider so the mail never ceased to
move. The route stretched from St.
Joseph Missouri to Sacramento and was ridden in 10 days. To conserve weight they wore light clothing,
small saddles and carried no weapons.
The horses wore light horseshoes or none at all, they carried small flat
mail pouches and the letters were written on very thing paper and it cost $500
a ounce to delivery. Yet in spite of all
this weight saving each rider carried a full sized Bible.
From the
time of the Exodus to the information age the Bible has played an important
role. The Bible was the first book
printed on Gutenberg’s movable type printing press, the first book read in
outer space and left on the moon by Astronaut Edgar Mitchell. I once had the opportunity to the head
physician of NASA around 1998 if there
were still any at NASA who believed the Bible.
He told me they have many who have group Bible studies and prayer
meeting during their lunch hours and breaks.
Abraham
Lincoln said, “In regard to this great Book, I have but to say it is the best
gift God has given to man. All the good
Savour gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right from
wrong. All things most desirable from
man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be portrayed in it.” Sept 7, 1864
This is the longest Psalms and the longest chapter in the
entire Bible. It also is usually right in the middle of most Bibles,
metaphorically making it the center or the core of the Bible. What would be the
subject of the longest Psalm and chapter in the center of the Bible? For surely
that subject would be of the utmost importance seeing as the Psalms itself has
such a prominent profile.
Essentially (it is) a didactic, teaching poem, this psalm
takes the form of a personal testimony. Although the poem contains allusions to
persecution and shows certain characteristics of laments, its main purpose is
to glorify the Tôrâ (God's law or teaching). The psalmist directs almost every
verse to God, using many forms of petition. At the same time, he uses some
synonym for the law in all but seven verses. The synonyms are: law,
testimonies, precepts, judgments, commandments, statutes, sayings, word, way,
and path.
The acrostic principle (with every stanza beginning a letter
of the Hebrew alphabet) is highly developed in this psalm, employing all
twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza is composed of eight
lines, which begin with the letter characteristic of that stanza. - The
Wycliffe Bible Commentary.
The subject of the longest, most prominent chapter in the
Bible is …the Bible. The word, the revelation, the commands, teachings and
precepts given directly to us by God Himself. This morning I want us to pause
for a moment and think about the greatness of God’s gift to us in His Word.
God’s Word Is Unique Psalms 119:1-8
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of
the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with
the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast
commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to
keep thy statutes! 6Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all
thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall
have learned thy righteous judgments.
Unique in it’s Continuity (from Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell)
Unique in its Continuity.
It was written over 6000 years ago, and spans 1,500 years, Over 40 generations, by 40
different authors, in 3 different languages. (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.) On 3
different continents, (Africa, Asia, Europe.) Yet it speaks with one voice, the
voice of God.
Unique in its Circulation.
To print every Bible, New Testament and individual portion
of the Bible, published up to 1974, one printer would have to produce: 1 copy
every 3 seconds, 20 copies every minute, 1,200 copies every hour, 28,800 copies
every day, 10.5 million copies every year nonstop for 245 years. That's enough pages of scripture to circle
the globe 1,000 times.
Between 1815 and 1975 around 2.5 billion copies of the Bible
had been printed. Another survey, for the years up to 1992, put it closer to 6
billion.
Today, over 100 million Bible are sold or given away every
year.
In 1998 alone the United Bible Society distributed 20
million Bibles, and 20 million New Testaments. This does not include the
millions published by the major Christian publishing houses, independent
publishers or the millions of copies now produced digitally on computers,
tablets and smart phones. The app,
YouVersion has been downloaded more than 50 million times! That is only one app
maker, there are hundreds more. No other book in all of time and history has
been distributed as much as God’s Word, none even come close and given its
incredible lead none ever will
Unique in its Translations.
The Bible was the first major book to be translated into
another language, Hebrew to Greek, 250 BC called the Septuagint. The Bible has
been translated into more than 2200 languages. Though this is only a third of
the 6500 languages known today yet it represents over 90% of all the earth's
languages that are most commonly used worldwide. Wycliffe Bible Translators
alone has over 6000 translators working with more than 850 languages to create
Bibles in native tongues for the first time. At this rate the Bible will become
the first book ever universally translated
Unique in Survival, Preservation
No other ancient writing has more documentary evidence than
the Bible.
|
Work of Antiquity
|
Written
|
Earliest Copy
|
Time Span
|
Surviving Copies
|
|
Pliny
|
61-113AD
|
850AD
|
750 yrs
|
7
|
|
Plato
|
100-44BC
|
900AD
|
1,200 yrs
|
7
|
|
Caesar
|
427-347BC
|
900AD
|
1000 yrs
|
49
|
|
Aristotle
|
384-322BC
|
1100AD
|
1400 yrs
|
49
|
|
Sophocles
|
496-406BC
|
1000AD
|
1400yrs
|
193
|
|
Homer(Illiad)
|
900BC
|
400BC
|
500yrs
|
643
|
|
New Testament
|
40-100AD
|
114 AD
|
50yrs
|
5800
|
If you add all the early writings that quote the New
Testament, and all portions and pieces of ancient copies there are over 24,000
copies of the New Testament.
Illustration:
Voltaire boasted that in 100 years from his time 1178
Christianity would be swept from existence and passed into history. He said, “The Bible will be a forgotten book”
Yet 100 years after his death the Geneva Bible Society
purchased his house and used his printing press to print and distribute Bibles.
H. L. Hastings, “Infidels for eighteen hundred years have
been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today a solid as a
rock. It’s circulation increases, and it
is more loved and cherished and read than ever before. Infidels with all their assaults, make about
as much an impression on this book as a man with a tack hammer on the Pyramids
of Egypt.”
Transition: Not only is the Bible like no other book on
earth because of its uniqueness, it also like no other book because it is
empowered by God to be without error and infallible.
God’s Word Is Infallible and Inerrant Psalms 119:89, 160
89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. 160 Thy
word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth
for ever.
Definitions:
Infallible: exempt from liability to error absolutely
trustworthy and sure.
Inerrant: free from error.
Those are incredible bold assertions to believe about
anything, much less a book that was written 1000’s of years ago. Why would we
believe such a thing?
We believe it because we see that the Bible is…
True by Its own Testimony
Psalm 119:152 Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of
old that thou hast founded them for ever.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the
word of our God shall stand for ever.
True By Its source
2 Tim. 3:16 –17 All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
2 Peter 1:21 For the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
This is not a book written under the guidance of mankind but
a book written and preserved under the guidance of God who is the same God who
wrote and preserves the world and universe we live in.
We also know it is …
True by the Testimony of Jesus Christ
Matthew 5:18 For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
For those who claim to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior
and then deny that every world in the Bible is true, including those passages
that are not popular in today’s immoral culture, you have a problem. The
problem is you say you believe Jesus when it comes to salvation but then you
call him a liar when it comes to the book that tells us of Jesus and that
salvation. You can’t have it both ways, either both are true or Jesus lied.
There are some other truths, some other proofs that we can
look at, they are not infallible nor inerrant like the Word of God, because
they are discoveries and conclusion found or surmised by man, but in them we
can see some evidence that buttress our understanding of the truth of God’s
Word.
The Bible can be seen as …
True by Archeology
Jericho was destroyed
by Joshua and the invading Israelite armies in Joshua 6:20. The city of Jericho was excavated in
1930-36. They found the wall had fallen
down flat just as the Bible had said.
The Five Cities of the Plain are recorded in Genesis
14. These were considered fictitious
until the discovery of the Kingdom of Elba site which not only mentions the
cities but even lists them in the same order on clay tablets 1000 years before
Moses wrote Genesis.
Ninevah was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. It was excavated in 1846. They found the palace of Sennacerchib and an
account of his conquest of Judea which matched the Biblical account.
Ossuary of Caiaphas and James. An Ossuary is a stone box in
which the bones of deceased ancestors were stored. Two ossuaries have been found with the name
of the man who condemned Jesus as the high priest and the name of James, the
brother of Jesus.
There are many, many, many….(did I say many?) … many other
archeological discoveries and more being found each day they put a shovel in
the ground in the Middle East.
We can also see that the Bible is
True by Fulfilled Prophecy
Jesus’ Birthplace (700 yrs before) Micah 5:2 But thou,
Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out
of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Time of Jesus Birth (900 yrs) Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to
build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and
threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even
in troublous times.
Manner of His Birth (700 yrs) Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord
himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.
Manner of His Death (1000 yrs) Psalm 22: 1 My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the
words of my roaring? 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot
out the lip, they shake the head, 16 For dogs have compassed me: the
assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 18 They
part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture
Manner of His Burial (700 yrs) Isaiah 53:7-9 He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as
a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
openeth not his mouth. 8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who
shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living:
for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9And he made his grave with
the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Illustration Random Chance
Peter Stoner in his book Science Speaks says that "the probability
of someone fulfilling just 8 of the messianic prophecies is 1 in 1 in 1017 or 10
with 17 zeros. To better illustrate it, "if we take 1017 Silver dollars
and lay them on the face of Texas. They
will cover all of the state two feet deep.
Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly,
all over the state. Blindfold a man and
tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver
dollar and say that this is the right one." Remember that this is only 8
prophecies, there are actually over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during
his time on earth.
Transition: Not only is God’s Word unique as a book it is
supernatural and miraculous by the power of God’s making it infallible and
inerrant. Yet, none of that matters unless God’s Word has a purpose that
impacts our lives. Look at our last point this morning, God’s Word Guides our
life and shows us eternity.
God’s Word Guides Our Life and Shows Us Eternity Psalms 119:105, 130
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my
path. 130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto
the simple.
It Guides our Life on Earth
Psalm 119:9-16 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his
way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I
sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid
in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord:
teach me thy statutes. 13With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy
mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all
riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. 16I
will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
It is a Guide to Eternal Life
Psalm 119:41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even
thy salvation, according to thy word.
Psalm 119:93-95 I will never forget thy precepts: for with
them thou hast quickened me. I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy
precepts. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider
thy testimonies.
It Guides Us To Jesus Christ
John 5:39-47 Search
the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they
which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you,
that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive
me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye
believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that
cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there
is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have
believed me: for he wrote of me. But if
ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
There is salvation and eternal life in this book. It should
burst forth with light and song every time its opened. Would you know
forgiveness, hope, redemption, salvation, joy, assurance? Then open this book
and see its radiant picture of love and hear its beautiful music of glory.
Illustration:
The Word of God, the Holy Bible has everything you need,
whoever you are, and wherever you are going.
A man was packing for a trip. He told his friend, “I’m almost done, I just
have to pack a guidebook, a mirror, a microscope, a lamp, a telescope, a volume
of fine poetry, a package of old letters, a few biographies, a history book, a
book of songs, a sword, a hammer, and a set of theology books I’ve been
studying.”
His friend said, “You don’t have room for all that!”
“Yes I do,” he replied and with a smile placed his bible in
the corner of the suitcase and shut the lid.”
Conclusion:This Book
This book is the most important book every given into the
hands and knowledge of mankind. It is important because it tells us of history,
important because it tells us of ourselves, important because it tells of what
is true. But by far it is most important because it tells us of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
The Bible tells us that God loves us but hates the sin that
we commit. The Bible tells us that God, in his love, sent His only begotten son
to pay the price for our sinful nature and that if we accept the gift of God,
offered to us when Jesus died upon the cross in our place, we can have eternal
life.
Think of it, the hope that you so desperately need is in
this book. The life that you can live in joy and fulness, is in this book. The
family that will be a blessing and not a curse can be raised by this book. And
most amazing of all, the miracle of immortality and a home for eternity in
heaven, is in this book.
How can we dare not to read it every day? How can we so
blithely ignore its warnings? How can we hope to survive this life and enter
into the happiness of the next if we don’t understand the door that the Creator
of time and eternity has opened for us? It truly is the Word of God! Read it,
write it on the walls of your heart and thank God for this great gift that we
can hold in our hands and know God speaks to me.
Is He speaking to you right now?
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