Well, good morning, church. It is good to be together with you this morning. Again, my name's Jake Allen. I am over in Rogers, Arkansas at Trinity Grace Church. Just so you know, he's not here so I can brag on him a little bit. Your pastor is great. I'm sure that you think that too. I just want you to know it's not just y'all. We in the Presbyterian, we also We really treasure and value him. He does a great job serving as our moderator. And even a couple weeks ago, some of us in this area got together just to have lunch and just really enjoyed getting to be together with him. So while he's not here, we can talk good about him. And I'll leave it to y'all. I'll leave it to y'all whenever he gets back to really tell him how awesome he is. But again, thank you for allowing my family and I to be together to worship with you this morning. And this morning we will be in Psalm 119. And before you get too worried, don't worry, we won't read the whole thing. But we will be opening up Psalm 119 and we will look starting in verse 129. You know, every week as we gather together for worship, just as we did this morning, we hear a call. And the call is not actually from the minister, the call actually comes from God and from His Word. And the invitation that we hear is to come, and as the hymn writer would say, come and worship the King, O glorious above. And as we look to the scriptures, we find that God is actually constantly calling us to do different things. Yes, He calls us to worship, but He also calls us to confess. He calls us to come to Him and to praise Him and to know Him and to rest in Him, to bow down before Him, to cry out to Him, to sing to Him. And this morning, as we look at this small section of just eight verses in Psalm 119, My hope is that we will be able to see that even though we may not immediately recognize it as such, God here is actually calling us to do something. He is calling us to see and to wonder. He is calling us to recognize his favor upon us. And he is calling us each to evaluate our response. So as we look at these verses this morning, that's kind of the lens that we'll do it through. We'll do it through the lens of seeing God calling us to see and wonder, to recognize his favor, and to evaluate our response. So let's turn now to our text, and if you're willing and able, will you stand with me as we read God's word? Psalm 119, beginning in verse 129. We read there, your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light. It imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant because I long for your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name. Keep steady my steps according to your promise and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man's oppressions that I may keep your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes. My eyes shed streams of tears because people do not keep your law. Isaiah tells us that the grass will wither and the flowers, they will fade away, but that the word of our God, it will stand forever. And friends, this is the word of the Lord. Let's go to our God in prayer. God, we ask now that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear the beauty of your word. May you help us put away the thoughts of the past week and the week to come and even the thoughts and troubles of this morning. And oh Lord, would you tune our hearts now to see and to understand and to truly believe the words that you have spoken to us. And we ask you would do these things for the good of your people and the glory of your name. And we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. So whenever I was four years old, the Disney movie Aladdin came to the theaters and my mom took me to see it and I loved every minute of it. I actually liked it so much that my mom took me back to see it a second time before it left theaters because she loved me even back then. The opening scene of that movie though, it introduces, well actually it doesn't. it doesn't introduce the things that we think it might. Because in a movie, you often think it's like, oh, you're going to show me, you're going to show me who the main character is. You're going to put me in the place where most of the action is going to take place. But as this movie opens, it takes place out in the middle of the desert. And if you've seen the movie, you know why you're there. It's because out in the desert, there is this magic cave known as the Cave of Wonders. And then this opening scene, you see the cave, but you only see the outside. You don't actually get to see inside of it because no one gets to go in there. But when the main character shows up, when Aladdin is there, he gets to enter into the cave. And when he does, he sees vast amounts of treasure. He sees piles and piles of gold and fine jewels. He encounters a flying carpet. And deep within the cave, he finds a lamp. Do you know, the things that he saw whenever he first entered into that cave, they were, well, they were wonderful to him. They were things that he had longed for, things that he could only imagine possessing for himself. They were things, though, that he knew they could change his life forever. But as he entered the cave, there was a catch. Because the cave of wonders told him, as magic caves do, you can go in, but you can't touch anything except for the lamp. See, Aladdin could go in and he could gaze on all of these other things. But really there was one ultimate prize. There was one ultimate goal of him entering in. And if he understood what was contained inside of the lamp, all of the other things he saw would pale in comparison. In reality, there was really only one wonder in the cave. And you know, as we pick up this text this morning, we find not a cave of wonders, but we do find this root word there, don't we? Not wonders, but we do find this word wonderful. And the psalmist tells us that the testimonies of God should be described that way, that they are wonderful. That word wonderful is a word that you use, I bet. Whenever we use that word, we mean that something inspires delight, that it inspires pleasure, admiration. We mean that it's extremely good, that it's marvelous. And friends, the truth is this, all things pertaining to God are wonderful. and they actually should fill us with wonder. But Christian, is that a reality for you? The character, the actions, the plans, the words, the testimonies, the precepts, the everything about God should always be filling us with wonder. Like as we read the account of creation, we should be filled with wonder that God would create everything from nothing simply by speaking a word. It should fill us with wonder to think that before he ever created anything, that God himself, existing in the three persons of the Father, Son, and Spirit, had from all eternity past, existed in this perfect, harmonious, loving, unified relationship. It should fill us with wonder to think that God fashioned us as human beings so that we might image or reflect him in his world. It should fill us with wonder to think that from the beginning, our God has condescended to us so that we might know Him and be in a relationship with Him. It should fill us with wonder to think that even now, our God is so kind to us, friends, to give us an entire day every week where we can come and rest and worship Him. I should fill us with wonder to think at the entrance of sin into our world that God did not forsake us and condemn us, but instead that He provided for us as mankind, that He entered into a covenant with us and promised, I will undo all the things that you have broken with your sin. It should fill us with wonder to think that our God created a nation from one old childless couple. It should fill us with wonder that over and over again God has defeated the enemies of His people without them having to fight their own battles. It should fill us with wonder that throughout the ages He continued to reveal more and more of Himself. It should fill us with wonder that He does not forsake us as His people even though we constantly are running after other things. Friends, it should fill us with wonder that from the beginning our God has been about the business of gathering and saving and redeeming a people for himself. All of these things and countless others, they should fill us with wonder. They should cause us to stand in awe of him. But friend, do they? I've asked this broad question, really. I've asked, do the things of God fill you with wonder? And while all of these things should, if we look in verse 129, we see that Ryder actually, he's actually honing in on something specific. He tells us that the testimonies, or we might say the regulations of God should fill us with wonder. And as I thought about this line, I found myself wondering, what exactly does this psalmist mean? Well, he would have been thinking about the scriptures. And for the psalmist specifically, he would have been thinking about the first five books of the Old Testament, because it's likely the only Bible that he possessed. And as he writes about the regulations of God, you know what he's reflecting on? the back half of Exodus, the book of Leviticus and the book of Deuteronomy. Now, I don't know the last time you picked up any of those books. Did you make it through them in your yearly Bible reading plan? Or was Leviticus the point where you threw in the towel and went to the Psalms? No shame, no shame, I'm just asking. But think about those books and the way you feel as you read them. As you read the Ten Commandments, as you read the purity laws, as you read the laws about what to do when you find mold inside of your house, or as you read the directions for assessing a skin infection, is it wonder that you're filled with? Or is it confusion? Safe place, I'm just asking. It seems kind of funny to ask, doesn't it? Like, does the assessment of skin infection fill you with wonder? But the reality is, friends, these are the things that the writer would have been reflecting on. Y'all, these are the things that he is actually saying, these are wonderful, these fill me with wonder. But why is that? Well, friends, it's because the writer realized that these things, as odd as they may seem to us, they are actually revealing something about God. They are actually teaching that joy is only found in a life where a person is striving to keep these precepts, not just keeping them externally to check the box, but actually desiring from the deepest part of themselves to obey the commands of God. Now look, obviously the writer didn't keep them all perfectly. But what he's expressing in verse 131 is that there is this longing to do so. You know, if we're honest with ourselves, many of us would have to say that our experience doesn't align with that of the writer. That we don't often long to keep the commands of God. But we know we should, don't we? Whenever we find this to be the case, when we find that the Bible is describing as reality something that's very different from what we experience, do you know what we should do? We should stop and realize that the inspired writer is not saying, well, I got my stuff together, now it's your turn. Instead, what the Bible is actually doing is calling us to see ourselves in the reality of who we are, and it's calling us to repent, and to make our desires align more with what we find in the scriptures. Christian, do the things of God fill you with wonder? As you spend time in his creation, do you find yourself standing in awe? Do you see God's word, every part of God's word as being wonderful because it's revealing more of his nature and character to you? Whenever we struggle or fail to see this being a reality in our own lives, here's what I encourage you to do. Just stop and slow down. When you come to those seemingly odd parts of Leviticus, I don't know what to do with that. Don't worry about checking the box of your reading plan for that day. But instead, stop and ask, what might God be revealing about himself here? And if you need help, call Levi, he's great. Ah, there we go. Or pick up a commentary. Friends, every part of God's Word has been given to us so that we might more see and know and realize who our God is. Let our focus be that. Seeing and standing in wonder of Him more than making it through our assigned reading for the day. Our God calls us to wonder at Him because indeed, friends, His ways are wonderful. And He calls us to see and understand. And He calls us to see and recognize the favor that is ours. No, a few months after I graduated high school, I started working at this plating shop. And a few months after I started, I ended up in a department that was a two-man game. It was just me and my boss. And I was working in the chemical lab. And this job had plenty of drawbacks, like extremely hazardous materials with no hazard pay. Wasn't great, but a job's a job when you're that age, I guess. But at least for me, once I got into this job, I found that it actually had some perks for me that it didn't have for other people. And the reason, well, it all really boiled down to one reason. My boss liked me. Now, some of it was because I did part of his job too, but we can leave that aside. But because my boss liked me, and probably because I did part of his job too, there were things that he would allow me to do. Like if I need to run an errand in the middle of the day, he would let me go. If I'm running a few minutes late, he would say it's okay. And one of the perks was that he would actually teach me how to better do the job, because he had done it for a long time and knew. Because he was well-liked by many people in the company, whenever I began to work with him, people actually started to treat me differently. Now, it's not because I was so awesome, but it's because we could say his favor was on me. And so it began to show in many different ways. And friends, this is true for us as the people of God. we are shown his favor in innumerable ways. One way we see this is actually in verse 130, where the writer speaks of God's word and says that it gives light. Y'all, it is the favor of God that he not only gives us his word, but that as his people, he allows it to have this illuminating power for us that it doesn't have for the rest of the world. The idea of God's word being light, it's actually used multiple times in Psalm 119, but here it says that the unfolding of your word gives light and it imparts understanding to the simple. As I think about this idea of the light being unfolded, I think about it being kind of a slow rolling out process. So I thought, where do I see this in life? I thought about what it's like standing in my garage. If your garage is like mine, you walk in and it's this box with no windows and you just walk into complete and utter darkness. And it's not a safe place, because maybe your family's like mine, and sometimes things just get thrown in there, and you just never know. You never know what you might encounter. I love y'all, but it's true. So whenever I walk into my garage, it's totally dark. But if I reach over and I just hit the button on the wall, something happens. Then a second, the door cracks, and a little bit of light slips in from underneath. And within a few seconds as the door raises, more light comes in until the door is up and light is pouring in and I can see fully what's going on. As I think about the idea of God's word unfolding, this is kind of how I think of it. Friends, this is how God's word works in our lives. Because whenever we come to faith, the light shines in, the spirit enlightens our minds. He allows us to see the truths of the scripture like never before. And then as we spend more time in relationship with God, as we are in and active in his word more, not only the story of redemption, but God's character and his design for how we are to live, they become more clear, more light shines on them. And as we spend more time with him and in his word, more light unfolds and it begins to shine in new areas and it reveals the deeper things. And sometimes those are things that we don't necessarily like. Because that light will shine in the corners that had for so long been dark and where our sin has allowed to hide and to fester and to grow. And the light of God's word will shine in those areas. But do you know where else the light of God will shine? It will shine on His mercy. It will unfold and reveal to us how merciful and gracious our God is. The light will shine and it will unfold to us more and more of His wisdom, more of His nature and character, more and more of His steadfast love for us. You know, this is actually a foretaste of what eternity will be like for the believer. Because in eternity, we will continually be learning more of who God is and who we were and who it is that he created us to be. The word, the psalmist goes on to say, it not only gives light, but it imparts understanding to the simple. That word simple is a word that I use to describe myself a lot. Like, yeah, I'm just a pretty simple guy. And what I mean by that when I use that word is that I just don't really need much. I don't think. And whenever I use it in that way, I think that it's a good thing. But whenever the Bible uses this word, it does so in a very particular way. The ESV commentators explain it like this. They say the simple is the one not firmly committed to wisdom or to folly. The simple are easily misled and don't apply themselves to the discipline needed to gain and grow in wisdom. You know, when I read this, I thought, Maybe I should find a new word to describe me. Because friends, I don't wanna be thought of as simple like that. I don't wanna be thought of as not being committed. I just don't want that to be true of me. I don't want to be easily misled or fail to grow in wisdom. I don't want that to be true and I don't want people to think that of me. I don't want to be simple like that. I'm gonna venture a guess that you don't either. But y'all, the truth is that apart from Christ, We're all simple. And even after we become believers too often, this still describes us. We still act in this way. Christian, can you be honest and see and say that, yes, at times that's still me. That at times we all waffle between wisdom and follow. We allow ourselves to be misled. We fail to apply the discipline we need to grow in wisdom. This is true of us and God is calling us to see it. Can you admit that that's true of you? Friend, God calls us to admit that it is true, to be humble enough to say yes it is and ask God to change us. The call is to acknowledge this and submit to the teaching of the word, to subject our hearts to the light of what God has revealed. Yes, it can be hard. because the light shines in places we don't always want it to. But y'all, God never subjects you to something that's not good for you. The light reveals our sin, But it also imparts to us understanding, understanding to see why that sin must come out, understanding to see why life apart from sin and folly is better. It's the Lord's favor to show us our sin and folly that we hold to so tightly and then in its place to impart wisdom to us. And the wisdom of the Lord is better than any wisdom that the world can even offer. because it is founded upon Christ who in himself is the embodiment of all wisdom. As we continue to work through this Psalm, we see that the Lord's favor is all throughout. And this, friends, is what he calls us to see. His favor is seen not only as he gives us light by his word and imparts understanding, but it's also seen as the writer asks God to turn to us and be gracious to us. Have you ever read through the Bible and noticed that people, writers will ask God to do something that he's already promised to do? Do you ever feel like, maybe this is just me, but do you ever feel like you shouldn't ask God to do something he's already promised to do? Maybe you are a parent and you've told your children that, yes, we are going to do this thing, and then they ask you 14 times before you get out the door. It's like, we're gonna do this thing, right? It's like, not if you ask me again, right? Do you ever feel like that though? It's like, well, God said he's gonna do it. Maybe I should just leave it alone. You know, as we look through the pages of scripture, we should be encouraged. Friends, if God has promised it, it's okay. You can ask. You can ask with great boldness and confidence that God would do the things that he has promised to do. You can ask with confidence and boldness because he shows us that it's okay and we can ask knowing that he will answer it because this is what he always does for his people. Whenever the writer asked God to turn to him and be gracious to him, he's asking God to do something that he has always done. This is what he says too. God, this is what you do for those who love your name. Turn and be gracious. Friend, if you are a believer, God has shown you grace upon grace. He has shown you favor that you have not earned in innumerable ways. And it's His way to do that with those that He loves and those who love Him. The writer goes on and tells us that it's also His way to keep steady according to His promises. We read in verse 133, we ask God to keep us steady. It doesn't mean that we never falter in this life. We all falter, we all fail, we've all done it this morning. But what this means is that we are trusting God that He will preserve us to the end as He promises to do in places like John 6. It is His way to keep us steady. It's also His way to redeem us as we read in 134. To redeem us doesn't mean that we never suffer, but we are promised ultimate redemption from all suffering. And friends, it's a proper request that we ask the Lord to relieve us whenever we suffer. It is the Lord's way to redeem us. It is his way to teach us his ways and to make his face shine upon us. Whenever the psalmist wrote this line in 135, I kind of wonder if his Bible reading plan had recently had him in Numbers chapter six. Because the language here, it draws us back to that. Because there in Numbers chapter six, we find that benediction that many of us have heard countless times. The one that says, may the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. And I don't know, and granted, I did not grow up a Presbyterian kid. I didn't know what a benediction was until about 10 years ago. But for a couple years, I wondered, Mike, what does that mean, make his face shine up on him? And I just assumed everybody else knew, and I didn't want to seem dumb, so I didn't ask. But if you've ever wondered what that means, now you don't have to ask. Because here's what it means. Whenever we are asking God to make his face shine up on us, we are asking God, will you turn your face towards us and smile on us with the smile that a father has towards his children? Friends, even if you had a father who was terrible, I hope that you know what it's like to have someone who can fill that role, to look upon you and smile upon you and to know the favor they have on you, not even because you've earned it. Now, I want you to realize that if you are a child of God, not some broken human, but the creator of the universe turned towards you and he looks you square in the face and he smiles on you. He says, I delight in you and love you, not because of anything you've done, but because you're mine. Turn your face towards us. And he says, I do all the time. Amidst your sin, my smile is upon you. When you are crushing it at life, or at least you feel like you are, my smile is upon you. When you feel like everything in life is turned against you and your world is falling apart, my smile is upon you. And on an average Tuesday, when it's the most neutral of all days you have ever lived, the Lord says, my smile is upon you. The Lord calls us, friends, to see and to notice the favor that He has always shown us. The favor He shows us by illuminating His word to us, by imparting wisdom to us, by showing us His grace, by keeping us and redeeming us and teaching us and looking on us with His fatherly favor. And our right response then is to strive to do as He has commanded, not to please Him, though that is right, but so that we might know what it's like to live with joy and freedom. Friends, we ought to be striving against sin so that it does not get dominion over us, as the writer says in 133. We ought to be striving to keep his precepts, as it says in 134. We ought to be seeking to learn his statutes that he teaches, as the writer says in 135. we ought to be striving for these things. And we ought to be making bold requests to our God, knowing that ultimately they will all be answered with a yes. The Lord answers our prayers in ways that we may not recognize. He may answer them in ways that we're not looking for. But the answers of all of these requests are all ultimately a yes, if we are in Jesus. What our Lord promises aligns with his character, which is unchanging, just as his love towards his people is. And so friend, if you're a Christian, in the promises of God, you can rest and trust. He calls us to see and know and trust His favors on His children. So I ask you, are you looking for the favor of the Lord in your life? Are you in His word so that you might actually know what it is that He has promised? Are you trusting Him that He will keep His word? He has called us to see and wonder, to recognize His favor, and finally, He calls us to evaluate our response to what He has revealed. You know, in every area of life, there's evaluation happening. If you're a coach, you're evaluating your players and team. If you're a parent, you're evaluating your child's progress. If you're a teacher, you evaluate your students. If you're an employer, you evaluate your employees. And as individuals, we shouldn't just be looking for other people to do it. Friends, we should be doing self-evaluation too. As Christians, we should actually be evaluating our growth as we walk with Jesus. And one of the ways that we do this is by being honest with ourselves about our desire to keep the law of God and the sorrow that we feel when his law is broken or disregarded. The section here opens by speaking of the wonder of God's testimonies. And the writer says that because his testimonies are wonderful, his soul keeps them. Listen to the way he speaks throughout this section. In 131, the writer says he longs for the commandments. In 134, he asked that he might keep the Lord's precepts. In 135, he asked God to teach him his statutes. What's clear as we read these verses is that in the heart of the psalmist is this deep desire to keep the law of God. And I wonder, as you look at the law and evaluate your response, is yours like that of the psalmist? Because the call for us as Christians is to keep God's law. It's to be holy as He is holy. Friend, is that your desire? We never do it perfectly, which is why we need Jesus. But the truth is that a life lived with the desire to obey our God is one where we can know true joy. It's where we can know what it is to have the favor of the Father. As you evaluate your heart and response, friends, does it match this text? When you see the law of God broken and disregarded, does your heart respond like we see described here in 136? The writer says that he shed streams of tears. And the tears that he's pouring out, they're tears of sorrow and pity. There's sorrow because the Lord has been dishonored. And he has pity for the sinner. Is your response like his? For us, we so often take our sin too lightly. But as we put ourselves more and more before the face of God, the more that we reflect on his word and his precepts, the more that we will begin to see his character and his nature and his holiness, and our response will become more like that of the psalmist, and more importantly, it will become like that of God himself. This morning, if you're not a believer, but you feel the Spirit stirring in you, if you feel a hatred for your sin that is new to you, if you long for forgiveness that can be found only in Jesus, if you long to know that fatherly favor, that the psalmist writes about here, then the call to you is this. It's to turn and submit yourself to Jesus and to know the wonder of a life lived with Him and in submission to Him. I'll close with this. You know, when Aladdin entered into that cave, the cave of wonders, he found treasures beyond his wildest dreams. But the real prize was the lamp that was buried deep in the heart of the cave. And as he laid his hands on it, do you remember what he said? This is it? All this stuff back here and this is what I'm here for? Because as he picked it up, he thought, This thing is small. It's simple in appearance. It seems insignificant. But inside of it, there was power. Power that could change his life forever. You know, friends, so often both those inside and outside of the church think of God's word much like the lamp. Pick it up and like, it's just a book. It seems insignificant. But the truth is that what is found within is wisdom beyond measure, beauty that is incomparable. Friend, the Bible is a storehouse of treasure that can never be exhausted. The Bible contains the power to change many things, but the true treasure of the scripture is this, that at the heart of every passage is our wonderful God, who has the power to change not only your life today, but all of your eternity. And so today, friend, I urge you, heed the call. Heed the call to wonder at the greatness of our God. Heed the call to stand in awe and marvel at the favor that is yours because you are His. And heed the call to evaluate your response and ask yourself, do I respond as the inspired writer of the Psalm does? And if not, Know that our God stands ready not only to forgive you, but to change you and conform you more and more to the image of his son. Let's pray together. Our God, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you have been so kind to us, that you would reveal yourself and speak to us. We ask that you would teach us to rightly reflect on your word. We pray that you would let us honestly evaluate our response. We pray that you would let us see more clearly the beauty of Jesus every time that we open the word. And Lord, now, as we turn to sing your praises, we ask that you would tune our hearts to do it rightly. May we give you the praise that is rightly due to you. And as we bring before you our tithes and our offerings, Lord, would you make us cheerful givers? And would you use them to further your kingdom in this world? We ask you to do all these things for the good of your people in the glory of your name. We ask these things in Christ's name, amen.