Father, we thank You so much for this Memorial Day. And Lord, above all other memorials, we thank You for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He who came as the great warrior against sin, against Satan, and against death. He that came and died upon the cross, was buried, and rose again conquering sin and death. We thank You, Lord, that He is our Champion. that He is the great General of our faith. And Lord, every Lord's Day is a memorial day of our Champion, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I thank You that we can gather this day to celebrate the Lord Jesus and salvation by grace through faith in Him and His finished work. And Lord, we also praise You and thank You for the freedom that we enjoy today to celebrate Christ, to preach the full counsel of the Word of God, and to live out our lives as Christians according to the convictions given from the light of Your Word. Lord, we praise You for these freedoms. These are gifts from Your hand. But men and women have given their lives that we would enjoy these freedoms. Men have died that we, Lord, would live free. And be blessed, Lord, walking with Your Son in faith. So, we thank You, Lord, for them. We thank You, Lord, for those troops that are on the field of combat right now. And we pray, Lord, You'd watch over their lives. We pray, Lord, that You would use the combat zone and the duress of combat to bring them to repentance and to saving faith. Lord, we pray that You would use those Christian sailors and soldiers and marines and airmen, that You would use their testimony around the world, Lord, whether it be in Afghanistan or Iraq or wherever they might find themselves. Use their testimony. Use their witness. Use the Word of God from their lips, Lord, to save the souls of men, indigenous men in those nations. Save men and women out of Islam, Lord. Out of the darkness of a religion of dead works. a religion of violence and oppression. Lord, save them, we pray. Lord, if nothing else comes from this war, we pray that the salvation of men and women, their precious souls, would come from it. Bless Your Word, Lord. And Father, we even pray as the military is a place the Gideons minister the Bibles unto, Lord, that some of those Gideon Bibles would make their way into the hands of the people in these nations. And, Lord, prosper that Word. Lord, we thank You for what You are doing in our lives. I thank You, Lord, that You've gathered each one of us here today to reveal Yourself to us again through Your Word, to move us and to shape us, to, Lord, grant repentance and faith, Lord, to wash us with the water of the Word. And I just pray You would do that right now, Lord. We ask it in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Please open your Bibles to Romans 12 and verse 9. Romans 12 and verse 9. And for those of you that have been here for some time, those of you that have joined yourselves to this body and the work of God here and are regular attenders, You know that we've been here for some time. For those of you that are guests today, you might get the idea that we've been here for some time as the person next to you's Bible just opened automatically to that as it sat in their lap. There's probably lots of red ink there and notes through and through. And it all reflects the fact that we have been in Romans 12, 9, 4, maybe 15 weeks now or so. We've become quite comfortable here. We'll not remain here forever. But this passage is pregnant with truth. It is pregnant with application. And we desire to receive all of the children of its application in our lives. Romans 12.9 with me please. Let's read together. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Let love be without hypocrisy. Not all love is genuine. In fact, much that is professed to be love is not genuine at all, but disingenuous. It is not authentic. It is not real. We need the love that comes from the power of God through His Holy Spirit living and dwelling within us. We need the love that God defines as love in His Holy Scriptures. If it's not of the power of God, and if it's not of the definition that God gives of love, then it is not love truly. And so we must seek the Lord and cry out to the Lord that He would make us to be able to love others without hypocrisy. And foremost, that we would love God without hypocrisy. Secondly, abhor what is evil. Abhor what is evil. Not something you hear much of these days. That we should abhor anything. That we should hate, really. That's what the word means. Hate evil. We should not be undecided about that which is evil. We should be decidedly against that which is evil. We should abhor evil in all its forms. Which leaves us with that question. It begs the question, what is evil? And before you start to think of things you abhor that are evil, let me challenge you to make certain that the Word of God defines that as evil. And before you think of things that are good, make certain that the Word of God defines that issue or that behavior or whatever it is as good and holy and right and pure. We must go to the Word of God to discern from God, He who is the Judge, He who is the ultimate discerner of good and evil, that which is good and evil. And once we have received from Him an understanding of what evil is, we need to be passionate against it, abhorring it, fleeing from it, rejecting it, and putting it out of our lives. And then finally, cling to what is good, and this is where we have been for several weeks now, clinging to what is good. The word cling here, again, kalomenoi, is Literally, meaning to glue or to laminate, to be stuck on. And we want these good things, that which God defines as good, right, holy, just, pure, lovely. We want all that God says is good to be laminated into our very being, to become part of who we are. And we could exhaust the list of that which is good, going chapter by chapter, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation. And some of you may feel like we have been exhausting that list, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation. But no, we have taken some weeks to highlight a few good things that we might be good men and good women. Those who have clung to, those that have become glued to, those that have laminated goodness into their lives. Why take the time to do that? Well, as I've said before, we wouldn't want to tell little Charlie, little Chucky to be good and not give him any definition of what that means. We wouldn't want to tell our children, now son, now daughter, you be good without giving them any frame of reference. And so the Lord says, cling to what is good. And let's get a frame of reference of some of the basic good things the Lord would have us to cling to. Foremost, cling to God. God is good. Unless we cling to God in faith, we will never know goodness. Romans 1.16 says, I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God to first salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek. For in it, verse 17, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Not ashamed of the Gospel. Why? It's the power of God to save souls. How? Through faith. Faith. We come unto the Lord in faith and we are saved. How is it that we are saved? Verse 17, For in it, in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. When we come unto the Lord in faith, God's righteousness through His Son is applied to us. The technical term is imputed. What happened at the cross when we come to the cross in faith, believing upon the Lord Jesus, is that our sins are imputed to Christ, meaning placed on Christ. He bears our sins. He is pierced for our sins. He pays the penalty for our sin. But it doesn't stop there. When we come to Christ in faith at the cross, our sins are imputed to Him and His righteousness is imputed to us or placed upon us. So that when the Holy Creator, when the Father looks upon us, He does not see our sinfulness. That was applied to Christ upon the cross. And He doesn't now even see us as somehow neutral. Our sin is on Christ and we're left neutral. No, instead He sees us as righteous. How righteous? Perfectly righteous. Because Christ's righteousness is applied unto us. And that is the uniqueness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our unique boast. Our salvation is not of our works. It's of Christ's perfect work. He lived for 33 years perfectly obeying the Father. Perfectly obeying righteousness. And He died in our place as the sinless Son of God, bearing our sins for us and applying His perfect righteousness to us. And so, we must cling to God in faith, cling to the Son of God in faith, or we will never know goodness. For we have no innate goodness. in and of ourselves. We must come repenting and believing upon Jesus and then the goodness of God Himself, the Son of God, is applied unto us. That is our great boast as Christians. Not that we attend church. Not that we were baptized. Not that we pray or light candles or what have you. It is Christ and His cross. His payment. His righteousness. That's the good news of Jesus Christ. The just shall live by faith. Cling to God. God is good. Cling to faith in God. Faith in God is good because it makes you good with the goodness of God Himself, God the Son, Jesus Christ. Third, cling to love. The love of God and the love of men is good. God says that the first commandment is love. To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy strength. The second, to love thy neighbor as thyself. All of the law and the prophets are summed up in these two commandments. Oh, that we would love God and love our neighbor as ourself. I must press on. Cling to worship. Worship is good. If God has saved you from hell to heaven, worship Him. If He sent His Son to die for you, and you have received His Son as your Lord and Savior, and His Son took your sin upon Himself on the cross and gave you for your sins His righteousness, you have so much reason to worship Him. Not just on the Lord's Day, but certainly on the Lord's Day. Worship the King. Worship your Creator. Worship your Savior. Cling to worship. The worship of God is good. Cling to joy. Joy in God is good. Again, if He has saved you from hell to heaven, if He has saved you from certain wrath to the fullness of God's love in heaven forever, you have everything to be joyful about. If He has saved you from a life of sin and the suffering that your sins bring, to a life of righteousness and the blessings of God that righteousness brings, then we should be abiding in joy. Most fundamentally, if you know God, if you have a relationship with God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, then Philippians 4 verse 4 says, Rejoice in the Lord always, And again, I will say, rejoice. If you know God, and that's what it means to be saved, to know God, then you will rejoice in Him. Now, sometimes you'll have to buffet the flesh. You'll have to say, no, I'm not going to be downcast. I'm not going to be depressed. I'm not going to focus on this world and the sorrows and this. I'm going to fix my eyes on the Lord. I'm going to decide to rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say, rejoice. Cling to joy. Joy in God is good. Cling to thankfulness. Thankfulness to God is good. In everything give thanks, says 1 Thessalonians 5.18. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. In everything give thanks. The Lord is working out your salvation. The Lord is the author and the finisher of your faith. The Lord works all things for the good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose. Therefore, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Give thanks for the breath in your lungs. Give thanks that there's a heart that beats in your chest. Give thanks for the roof that you sleep under and the bed that you sleep in or the sleeping bag on the floor that you sleep in, whatever it might be. Give thanks for the food on your table. Give thanks above all else for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God's grace to open your eyes to your sin and your need for the Savior. God's grace to give you the gift of repentance and faith. Cling to thankfulness. Thankfulness to God is good. These are basic basic Christian truths that we must celebrate, that we must cling to. Cling to fellowship. Fellowship with God's people is good. God designed you for fellowship. God designed you to walk together with other believers. God designed you to be blessed in the context of a local gathering of saints in a local church. And when you get outside of that, I guarantee you, you will not be blessed. Treat the church of Jesus Christ lightly. I guarantee you, you will not be blessed. You will struggle. You will have hardship. Sins that you once left behind will again creep up upon you and devour you. The Lord does not mean for you to walk alone, but to walk in the body of Christ that you would encourage love and good works in other saints' lives and that you would be encouraged in love and good works in your life. Cling to fellowship. Fellowship with God's people is good. And then last week, we opened up this truth. Cling to the Word of God. God's Word is good. I cannot overestimate this point. We may possibly get stuck here the rest of today. Cling to the Word of God. God's Word is good. In 1990, I joined the United States Marine Corps. Purpose for joining was to kill people. That's what was in my heart. Now, in one sense, I'm appreciative of Marines who kill evil people that need to be killed. And if that is bothersome to you, then you have a little bit of a pacifist heart in your chest. And I encourage you to search the Scriptures. There is that which is called a just war. I encourage you to search the Old Testament. Our God is a holy God. And He commanded this nation, Israel, to take up actual arms against other evil nations, and at times even to wipe them out. And so not all war is evil. Not all killing is evil. If an evil man breaks into your home to rape and torture some members of your family, you should be thankful for the police officer that comes with a sidearm to stop the evildoer. And if he must take his life to stop him, then justice was done, not an evil deed. And so, I thank God. As in Romans 13, it says that there is no authority except that of God. And it says that God has appointed individuals who do not bear the sword in vain. They are representatives of the law. They are representatives of God, ultimately. That there is absolute evil and there is an absolute outcome for those who will do evil. Yes, at times, even death. However, back to my heart. My heart was a heart of murder. My heart was a heart that delighted in the idea of killing. I joined the Marine Corps for unrighteous reasons. And that unrighteousness was pervasive in my life. And in God's grace, the Gideons provide Bibles to the United States military. In God's grace, the night of my induction into Marine Corps boot camp, when they shaved my head there, quite gruffly, producing blood on my scalp. They also gave me a set of camis. They also gave me a new set of black boots. And they also gave me a Gideon Bible. And there either were combat manuals to read or a Gideon Bible to read. And in God's grace, I was compelled to read that Gideon Bible. And a Gideon Bible is not some weird Bible. It's a Bible that Gideons have placed. I believe it was a King James version. of the New Testament Psalms and Proverbs. And I began in spare time. There's not much spare time, but in the spare time that we had, I began to read. And the Lord opened my eyes to the sinfulness of Chuck O'Neill. To the holiness of my Creator God. And to the reality that Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life. And that no man comes to the Father, meaning heaven, but by or through Jesus Christ. It was there in the midst of boot camp at 17 or 18. I'm not sure exactly which day at all. It kind of runs together. Three months of fun and games. It was there in the midst of boot camp. I went from a wicked man, a blasphemer, violent, vile, filthy in my heart, in my words, and in my deeds. I went from a wicked man to, by the grace of God, in repentance and faith, to be a saint of God. If any man be in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, he is a new creation. Old things are past. The old all things are made new. The Lord radically changed me in the midst of Marine Corps boot camp. I came home to my wife, that new creature, so new that she really didn't know me. I came home to my drinking buddies, a new creature. My best buddy picked me up. Remember, I've been gone in boot camp. My best buddy picked me up and he had a cooler full of, you know what, and we go out and he's popping a top and driving that car. And he's looking over at me funny because I'm not popping anything. And I begin to talk to him of the glories of God and the sinfulness of sin and the need of repentance as he's drinking and driving. And he finishes his first and he gets his second. And he says, you know, go ahead. And I say, no, that's ok. And I keep talking to him about his soul and God and the need for salvation. And he says, oh, me and the man upstairs were tied. And I say, no, you don't understand. And it wasn't long before he was dropping me off. We no longer had anything in common. For what we had in common was sin. And it was sad. The Lord saved me out of that. He went on to join the Marine Corps after me. Sometime later, was arrested for drunk driving. Lost rank. Lost pay. Lost privilege. Lost his first wife due to his abuse of alcohol. I pray one day he too will find the grace of God and be saved from that very sin that once gripped me. But God radically changed me through the Word of God. Salvation comes in God's sovereignty. He has designed that faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. As I said earlier, never underestimate the power of God's Holy Word. It is His Word. And He has designed that we would carry it forth with feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. That we would give it forth with our lips. How would they hear without a preacher? Romans 10 says. and that we would give it forth in print. And by God's grace, with no man's lips and no man's feet, but just the printed Word, I came unto repentance and faith and salvation. And the Lord never let me get far from that Gideon Bible. Just this last week, I was using the Gideon Bible to witness in my car right now is a Gideon Bible. In my briefcase right now is a Gideon Bible. I give out Gideon Bibles to this day. As the Lord used the Word of God alone to save my soul, I have grown in the Christian faith with that confidence that God uses His Word. I had a distrust of the organized church because I had never seen a true church. I had never really seen true believers to my knowledge. And so as I came out of boot camp, I knew the Word of God was true. And I knew that God was real. And then God began to call me out into church. And when the church would preach things or teach things that weren't in the Word of God, I would bow out of that and look for another church where they preached and taught the Word of God. And in time, by God's grace, we found a church that did fairly well, preached the Word of God. And we have continued to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord through His Word. It is able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3.15 That's what God did in boot camp. But God's not done with any of you. If you're in Christ today, you're in Christ because God revealed Himself to you through His Word. Either written or verbal or a combination of both, most likely. And then you continue on. The Word of God then is able to make you complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. That's 2 Timothy 3.17. Why is it able to do that? Well, because of 2 Timothy 3.16. Because the Word of God is given by inspiration. It is the inspired message of God. God breathed His Word through men. That's why in the spine of your Bible it says, Holy Bible. It's not the words of men. It's the Word of God given through men perfectly for men. That we might know who God is. Come to repentance and faith and salvation. And then we might know how to serve God and please God. The most precious thing you have in your home is the Word of God. It is your treasure. We must learn to treasure it. As the Lord Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. We eat regularly. In fact, later today we're going to eat together. And probably some of you will overeat as we Americans are apt to. Let us be guilty, if it were possible, of overeating at the table of God's Word. Let us be guilty of it. Have you ever overeaten? Where you've just taken in as much as you can of God's Word and you're just saturated with it and you just can't get enough of it until you just feel like, boy, it's just, wow, it's overwhelming! Feast upon the Word of God. You need to develop an appetite for the Word of God. Just how some of you, I know you do, you get excited when you see that buffet. And when you're driving down the highway and it says, you know, $5.50 all you can eat, your car just automatically turns in. Get excited about the buffet of God's Holy Word. Get excited about coming into the local assembly of the saints in the church, because that pastor, he's going to open up the Word of God. Between those two leather covers resides sixty-six precious meals. Tasty morsels of God, given for the nourishment of your soul. Delight in it. Rejoice in it. Get excited about it. You should get antsy in the car. You should be salivating in a spiritual sense. Oh boy! Here we are. I wonder what's the special today. Cling to the Word of God. God's Word is so very good. It is our necessary spiritual food. If we stopped eating today, and didn't eat at all tomorrow, and didn't eat at all the next day, you know what? None of you would die. Unless perhaps you're diabetic. But none of you would die. In fact, we'd probably most be just fine. And yet, you'd feel like you're going to die. Just like our children, in fact, even myself will often say, I'm starving. Right? Why am I starving? Because I probably haven't eaten in say, oh, two and a half hours, three hours. I haven't had a snack lately. I'm starving. Oh, that we would feel that way about the Word of God. I haven't thought through any of the memorized verses in my heart, in my head, in my mind, in a couple of hours. I'm starving. Let me meditate. Let me think about the Word of God that's already in my head and in my heart. I'm starving. I haven't read through it and tasted and seen that the Lord is good through His revelation of Himself. I haven't read through the Scriptures and sat and dwelt in them for a while. Oh, I'm starving. I must rise up early to satiate my soul. I must stay up late to satiate my soul. I need that midnight snack. I need that noontime meal. Oh, that you and I would realize that without a steady feasting upon the Word of God, we are spiritually starving. We are anemic. We are sick. Sin will override us and overrun our lives. We will be of little use to God. We'll be of little use to the saints of God in that anemic, weakened state. We'll be of little, if any, use on the field of spiritual combat, the Gospel field, if we're not regularly and steadily feasting upon the Word of God. The one thing you can be certain of in the military is that they're going to feed you Very rarely did I miss a meal and most often my belly was very full in the Marine Corps. They feed you because they know that food is fundamental to being motivated for the task at hand. You must have energy. You must have clarity of thought and your belly being full provides that energy and those nutrients, you can call an MRE nutritious, those nutrients Provide that which your body needs. Your mind needs to have clarity of thought so that you can carry out the mission, so that you can do the essential and vital combat task that you have been called to. We must feast upon the Word of God or we suffer individually, we suffer corporately as the church of God, and we cause the world around us that so desperately needs the Gospel from our lips to suffer under their sins. Cling to the Word of God. God's Word is good. Psalm 119 please with me. Verse 25. The entirety of Psalm 119 uplifts the glories of the Word of God. Let's pick up in verse 25 though, where it says, My soul clings to the dust. Revive me according to your Word. My soul clings to the dust. This is an eloquent way of saying that I am empty. I am used up. I feel like I might as well die. I am downtrodden. I am downcast. I have lost hope. I have lost zeal. I have lost joy. My soul clings to dust. And the psalmist knew rightly that is the Word of God that would revive Him. Revive Me according to Your Word, O Lord. Without the bread of life that God's Word is, your soul will cling to dust, even as your flesh without bread in your belly will soon cling to dust. From dust you came and to dust you'll go if you don't eat. Spiritually, you will be dust. You'll be empty. You'll be used up without the Word of God. Revive me, O Lord, according to Your Word. There are times that through exercise or through hard work, I become famished and I become very tired. I lose energy. I lose focus. And I found myself working various construction jobs different times in my life that I get busy and I don't want to stop. You want to do that next thing. You want to make that next cut. You want to nail that next board. You want to dig that next hole. And so you skip lunch and you work on and on. And then you start to find yourself making stupid mistakes. And you're cutting the wrong board the wrong way. You have to go back then and correct what you've done. And you think, you know, I need to stop. And then you stop. And you sit. And you drink. And you eat. And you go back. And now you're refreshed. And you're strong. And you're encouraged. and you're thinking straight again and you're actually productive in that which you're doing. And most of us have experienced that in one way or another as far as our physical lives. But spiritually, we discount the reality that our souls starve without the Word of God. That we will become famished and anemic, dusty, without the Word of God. But the psalmist here revels in, rejoices in the reality that he can be and will be revived according to the Word of God. Some of you, and all of us at one time or another, seek to be revived in other ways. We come home worn out spiritually, done in, used up, tired, and we seek strength through entertainments. Entertainments that often are worldly, even entertainments that are beyond worldly, they are outright sinful. Some at times seek strength, seek to revive themselves from being dusty, even through pills, or through things that they smoke, or through things that they drink. The psalmist rightly understood that we will be revived as believers, as the people of God, through the Word of God. It is our necessary food. It is our sustenance spiritually. Psalm 119.28, just a few verses down. The psalmist again says, My soul melts from heaviness. Strengthen me according to Your Word. Cling to God's Word. It will strengthen you. My soul melts from heaviness. I am certain that some of you, perhaps all of you, have felt that way at one time or another. What did you do when you felt that way? Did you call your mother? Did you call your brother? Did you call your best friend? Did you get online and surf the web? Did you flick on the TV and surf through the channels? What did you do with the heaviness of soul that all of your lives will bring? The psalmist did that which was right. He recognized where he would be strengthened and he cried out unto God. Notice he joined prayer with the Word of God. Strengthen me according to Your Word, O Lord. Do not be deceived. This world and all that's in it will not strengthen you spiritually. It will not provide the joy that you need to overcome life's difficulties and trials. It will not provide the hope that you need to get from here to heaven in faith. and in righteousness. The psalmist responds rightly to the heaviness of soul. My soul melts from heaviness. Strengthen me, O Lord, according to Your Word. Psalm 119, verse 31, I cling to Your testimonies, O Lord. Do not put me to shame. Cling to the Lord's testimonies. Cling to them. The Word of God is good. It's good in that it will save you. It's good in that it will sanctify you. It will make you complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Psalm 119.37, Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way. Oh Lord, the psalmist cries out unto God that God, he would turn The psalmist's eyes away from worthless things. This can be a life-changing verse for you. Do you understand? I've been trying to communicate to you. Do you understand that you must learn to feast upon the Word of God? Because we all are feasting. We all belly up to the world's buffet. And we feast ourselves trying to satiate our hearts with that which the world delivers up. when our hearts will only be satiated, our souls will only be satiated with that which God has served up in His Word. We must learn to turn away from worthless things. The psalmist here rightly prays. He cries out to God that God would turn his eyes away from looking at worthless things and that God would revive him in God's way, in righteousness, according to the Word of God. We must join the psalmist. If your life is full, then you have no room for God. You have no room for the Word of God. You have no room for the God of the Word. If you have no room for God's Word in your life, if you'll not delight in it and be satiated with it and filled with it, then you have no room for God. Because the Word of God is God's revelation of Himself. It is God's tool to reveal Himself to you that you would know Him and love Him and be able to serve Him. And so, as we treat it lightly, we treat Him lightly. And as we refuse to look away from worthless things, and we delight in worthless things like sports, like incessant focus on politics, like sitcoms and MTV and whatever is on the radio or on the MP3 player or what have you, we delight in worthless things. Things that in the long run are passing away and will not matter at all. Now there are political issues that matter. Moral issues that matter. But we can get caught up in things in this world. Our eyes off of the best thing, the greatest thing, or the greatest person rather, God Himself. And then our souls get dusty. They melt with heaviness. And we must learn to turn our eyes away from looking at worthless things and call out to the Lord that He would revive us in His way. Psalm 119.47, and I will delight myself in your commandments. Cling to God's Word because you love God. I will delight myself in your commandments which I love. Why would you love the commandments of God? Why? They are so restrictive. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt. Why would you love the commandments of God? They stop you from doing the things you want to do, right? No, they protect you from doing the things that would destroy you. Thou shalt not do this, because this thing will destroy you and those around you. Thou shalt do this, because this thing will bring life and blessing to you." And beyond that, far beyond that, we delight in the commandments of God because we delight in the God of the commandments. If you love Me, said the Lord Jesus, you will obey My commandments. If you love God, you love His laws. You love His commands. You love His plan for your life. If you don't love God's commands, you don't love God. Cling to God's Word. Delight in God's commandments. Love God's commandments because you love God. And know, in contrast, that if you won't delight in and love God's commandments, that you won't love God. You aren't loving God. That's not my opinion. That is the Word of God. Join the psalmist in saying, I will delight myself in your commandments which I love, but don't just say it. Live it out. By delighting in the commandments of God, it's not just that we read them and possibly even memorize them But then, call out to the Lord that the Lord would strengthen us to walk therein. To walk according to the light of His Word. To be well-pleasing unto God. One last verse in Psalm 119. 119. 162. This is a long chapter, isn't it? 162. Cling to God's Word as great treasure. It says, I rejoice at Your Word as one who finds great treasure. The psalmist cries out to the Lord here, worshiping the Lord, saying, I rejoice at Your Word, O Lord, as one who finds great treasure. When you find something of real value to you, sometimes even things that you own. I've lost things that I own in my own house, in my own garage, certainly. Sometimes in my car. Sometimes even in my pockets throughout the day I'll lose something. And when I find it again, there's this delight. Oh yes! I found that thing again. And it's usually some worthless trinket in the big picture of life. But I'm delighting in it. Oh good! I found this thing. In fact, I coveted for a while this pocket knife, this well-designed, brilliantly engineered pocket knife. Just most excellent. I'll show it to you sometime. I don't have it on me today. But just an excellent pocket knife. And I confessed, well, I wanted this, and I thought about it. And so I looked at this knife, and finally, my wife blessed me with that knife for some birthday or something. I forget which it was. And oh, I delighted in it. Now, I dare not use it, right? You don't want to actually dull the blade. But you have to open it up and look at it, close it up, and open it up, look at it, close it up, to set it out there, and what have you. And on occasion, I've lost this oh so precious pocket knife. And when you find that oh so precious pocket knife, oh what joy fills your trivial, pathetic little heart. My trivial, pathetic little heart. Silly thing, a pocket knife. But oh how I enjoy it. And I have used it by now. I confess, I've dulled its blade. We take such joy in simple little things that ultimately they're going to rust. In fact, I let it get wet once. I got wet. And it was in my pocket. And I went all day that way. And I think I left it in those pants a couple days by accident. And it rusted some. And my heart went bitter batter. Oh, that we would feel that way about the Word of God. And then some a thousand fold. You know, where is my Bible? At times I've rebuked my children when they lose their Bibles and they for the most part have stopped doing that. But a few years ago, it seemed like they were always losing their Bible. Can't find my Bible. I think now we've just bought them enough Bibles that they have sufficient Bibles on every shelf. They can find a Bible. They never have to say that. But anyway, they'd lose their Bible and I would say, son and daughter, the Bible is your most precious treasure, your most precious possession. How could you lose it? And how can you lose that which you are daily using? You're daily abiding in it. You're daily opening it and delighting in it. How can you lose the Word of God? Sometimes still we get into the car to come to church and I'll see one of my family members put the Bible. I'll say one of my children just to leave my wife out of it, to be safe. Put their Bible on the floor between their feet as a convenient place for it. And you know, it tweaks my heart and it even tweaks the hair on the nap of my neck just a bit. And this passion rises up in my heart. And I have at times rebuked them. At other times, I've just kind of looked over there and they've recalled, the Bible is precious. It is the Word of God. If anything has to go on the floor, you go on the floor. That is the Word of God. It is precious. Delight in it. Study it. Read it. Memorize it. Rejoice. In it, it is great treasure. Matthew 13.44 tells us of a treasure hidden in a field. It tells us about a man who finds that. It's an analogy that the Lord Jesus tells about a man that finds the treasure hidden in the field. And for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field. Now, the specific meaning in Matthew 13.44 is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is that treasure. But like the Kingdom of God, The Word of God is that treasure. And it's the Word of God that reveals to you that Kingdom of God and how to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is a treasure hidden in a field. Sell all that you have to get that treasure. Give up the worthless pocket knives that are only going to rust and get dull anyway. Give up the worthless trinkets of this life that are distracting you from that which is eternal. This is the eternal Word of God. The grass withers. The flower fades. But the Word of God, it abides forever. All of the things your heart enjoys, your newest computer, your newest bicycle, your newest program, your newest car, All those things your heart enjoys and delights in, they're all going to pass away and be meaningless. Nothing. When you stand before God one day, the Word of God will last forever. And that which you become as the Word of God is worked into your fiber, the fiber of your being, as the Word of God is laminated into your person, that which you become the very image of Christ imprinted upon you. You able to serve the Lord in spirit and in truth. You able, moved and empowered by the Holy Spirit, but walking in the light of the Word. You able to serve God on the field of combat, Gospel combat, bringing the Word of God that will make men and women wise unto salvation. That is eternal value. Are you able to instruct your own children and grandchildren in the Word of God that their souls will be saved and that their lives will be radically changed and conformed to the image of Christ for their blessing, for the glory of God, and for the blessing of others? These are the things that delighting in the law of the Lord, that delighting in the Word of God, these are the things that you will have if you will stop looking at worthless things and start looking at that which is worth everything. You would know nothing of God, nothing of Christ, nothing of salvation, except that God is giving you His Word. Oh yes! There is a natural revelation as the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork and day in the day utter speech and night in the night reveals knowledge. There is no speech or language where His voice is not heard through all of creation. But do you know what the sin in your heart would do with that testimony of creation? It would suppress it in unrighteousness and you would die in your sins. Accept that someone brought the Word of God to you. Because it is the Word brought to bear upon your sinful heart that reveals your Holy Creator God in all of His glory, that reveals your sinful heart and all of its sinfulness, and that reveals the majesty of Christ as Lord and Savior that you could and would bend your knee before Him and be saved. The Word of God is the greatest treasure. Love it! Delight in it! Feast upon it! I don't care what pathetic excuse you're thinking of right now that will leave you pathetic, sad, and anemic before your holy God on the Day of Judgment. Repent! I beg you! Turn from the worthless things that in reality are just idols that you are placing before God. If you delight in these things, you delight in your exercise, you delight in your television, you delight in your work and you work incessant hours, you delight in your hobbies, and you refuse to delight in the law of the Lord, then you are refusing to delight in God. And you have reason to fear the day of judgment. Delight in God. And you cannot delight in God without delighting in the worship of God. And you cannot delight in the worship of God and come to Him rightly, worshiping Him, unless you receive Him from the Word of God and then continue to walk in the light of that same Word. Again, faith cometh by hearing and hearing the Word of God. You will be made complete through the Word of God. You will be made thoroughly equipped for every good work through the Word of God. How dare we neglect so great a gift! How dare we neglect so great a treasure! What fools we make of ourselves! What fools we become before God and before men when we treat that which is most valuable as if it is least. The one-minute Bible. What fools we are. Devotions. Taking our little five minute taste of God's Word daily. What fools we are. Let us learn to turn away from worthless things. To stop being the devil's fool. And to become the Lord's wise man. The Lord's wise woman. And to taste and see that He is good from His Source. The Word. Man shall not live on bread alone, but every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. Will we believe God or will we call Him a liar? What does your life say? Where is your time spent? What are your excuses for not feasting on the Word of God? I'll confess with you that there are times that my soul gets dry. Why does it get dry? Because I get distracted. and I stop feasting as I ought upon the Word of God. Now, by God's grace, I don't know the day where I do not read some portion of the Word of God or memorize or go through in my head and heart some portion, but to feast on it. It's those times of feasting that my soul is rich and full. It's those times where I just sit and I blow off all those worthless things. I clear my schedule. and I feast upon God in His Word. That's when my soul is full. My joy is full. My eyes become clear. The motives of my heart become clear. The direction that my life needs to go again is clear. Sin I see again as ugly and horrible and sinful as it is. And righteousness becomes sweet and pure and lovely again in my sight. Oh, that we would feast on the Word of God, pushing everything else aside, delighting in the law of the Lord. When that man in the Lord's illustration in Matthew 13 found this treasure hidden in a field, he sold all that he had and he bought that field. What do you need to sell? What do you need to burn? What do you need to throw in the wastebasket or the dumpster? What do you need to cut out of your life? Sell it. Burn it. Throw it away. Cut it out of your life. You need to prioritize your life in such a way that God is first. And if God is first, God's Word is first. Cling to God's Word. God's Word is good. What is in your life that you value more than God's revelation of Himself? What will you admit that you love more than God? Just look at your life. Look at where your money is spent. Look at where your time is spent. And you know what you love. How much of your time How much of your money is spent on the Kingdom of God? Is spent on seeking God? Is spent on knowing Him through the revelation of His Holy Word? May the Lord grant to us repentance. May the Lord revive us according to His Word. Let's pray. Father, I thank You for the psalmist's heart Lord, I pray that the psalmist's heart would become our heart. That, Lord, You would grant to us repentance and that You would grant to us faith again, Lord, that we would see the treasure that Your Word is. That we, Father, would give up the worthless things that are distracting us from that which is of most value. That we, Lord, Sell it or burn it or throw it away. That we would cut it out of our lives as a cancer that is destroying us. That we would cut it out of our flesh as a wart that is hideous and ugly. And that, Lord, we would seek You with a fresh heart. Grant, Lord, that we would delight in Your Word because we love You and delight in You. Grant, Father, that those that need to find repentance and salvation, Lord, would open up the Holy Word of God, even this day, and see the revelation of Yourself, the revelation of Your Son, the reality of their own sinfulness, and by Your grace, Lord, be brought to repentance and saving faith. And grant for each of us that, Lord, by Your grace are in Christ, that are redeemed, that, Lord, we would have a renewed passion for sanctification, that we would be washed with the water of the Word, that we would be made complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Lord, may we not be satisfied with mediocrity. May we not be satisfied, Lord, with worthless things. Convince us, Lord. Convince us. Change us. That You, Lord, would be glorified in our lives. That we, Lord, could be a blessing to our fellow saints and indeed encourage love and good works. And that we, Lord, could be a blessing to the lost, having lips that are able to speak the truth of Your Word. That they would come unto You in repentance and saving faith as well. Lord, we ask You to do these miracles in our lives in the holy name of Jesus. Amen.