You guys come to sermons 119 verse 17. The title of this sermon is gonna be Loving God's Law. And by way of introduction, you guys know surely by this point that David in his book, he's been magnifying the law and teaching of the joys and the benefits that come from the person that keeps God's law. But let's read this text and see how David accomplished this. So let's start in verse nine. It says this, how can a young man cleanse his way by taking heed according to your word? With my whole heart, I have sought you. Oh, let me not wonder for your commandments. Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgment of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways. I will delight in myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. And I will text today, deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word. Let us pray real quick. Father God, thank you so much for another day to be here with your people on this silent day. I pray as we get ready to unpack this text, I pray that you would soften all of our hearts to what it is that you want us to know in this text. Because all the scripture we need, Father, and there's something in this text that we need. And even this old text can still apply to us in some kind of fashion. or something we can learn from this. And so Father, I pray we leave here today that we will leave here in courage versus disencouraged. I pray that Jehovah behind the cross will speak through me. In Jesus' name I pray today, amen. Just a random question. When I was in college, I used to always go with people when I was sharing the gospel, and I would always say that, hey, if you died today, it's still for God, and God actually will actually let you in heaven. You know, what would you say? But just to change that question a little bit to kind of get us in the mind frame of what this text is getting at. If you died today, you know, would you feel like your life was accomplished? Do you feel like you had joy, peace? Do you feel like you truly lived life to what, I guess, the purpose of life would? If today you died, you know, if you're young, 15, 12, 13, 40, 50, 60, how old you are? I don't know. But if you die today, do you feel like you have purpose in your life? Do you feel like you have joy, do you have peace? It's a good question, think about it. But, by way of illustration, you guys turn if you want to, Luke chapter 18, I'm gonna use this person as a person that they died not having received peace, joy, and life. And it kind of correlates to our text, but listen to this story real quick in Luke 18, verse 18, it says this. Now a certain ruler asked him, saying, good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, why do you find me good? No one is good, but the one that is God. You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother. And he said, all these things I have kept from my youth. So when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, you still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will be good with God. Then verse 25, verse 24, and when Jesus saw that, he became very sorrowful. He said, how hard is it for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God? For it's easier to a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into eternal life. So what's the point of that story? Or why did I use that as an illustration? I think that as believers, we can kind of miss the point of why we have the Bible. I would say that the point we have the Bible is not necessarily for unbelievers to learn from it. They can, and God does use the word of God to draw unbelievers to himself. But the main use of the Bible is for believers. So this text we have in this text right here, it's not just for unbelievers. Maybe somebody church here that have a satisfaction and riches of the world. But don't let this kind of escape your heart too as a believer. That our problem as believers in this text is that we have a tendency to find joy and things in this world versus joy in God's word. And David here is gonna talk about or give us a cure to how we can fix this sin issue that we have. So again, our sin problem is that we find satisfaction in this world versus finding satisfaction in God's word. And David's point, or I guess the cure to this sin problem is that since God has given us life, we must love his word or his law. You may ask the question, why? You know, if I had to ask, we got two points. And these two points are gonna help us kind of further break down David's point, that since God has given us his love, we must love his word. The first point is that we find our source of life. And the second point is that we find out how to properly live before God. First point, since God has given us life, we must know the source of life. You guys go back to Psalms 119. Verse 17, it says this, deal bountiful with your servant. Now, what does the word bountiful mean? It's actually used 37 different times in the Old Testament. I'm gonna use three of those times. One of them right here, Psalms 13, verse six, it says this, I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountiful with me. Another occurrence is Psalms 116, verse seven, return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountiful with you. And that time is used in Psalms 142, Verse seven, bring my soul out of prison that I may praise your name. The righteous shall surround me. You shall deal bountiful with me. So here, in English, the word bountiful means bestowing our favor upon someone. But in Hebrew, you always say this word, say it with me, it's called gamel. Say that word. Gamel. And in Hebrew, the word gamel has a couple different meanings, but it means also to bestow favor upon someone, to render someone a good or a reward for what they've done, And it can also mean to serve and yield. But here in our text, he's using a verb to describe something. In particular, to describe doing, showing, or causing good or evil to anyone, and then to reward them for their good and evil. A good comparison may be in Proverbs 11, verse 17, it says this, a merciful man does good for his own soul. But he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. And so you kind of see how these relate a little bit. But I think David's main point is not that he found any reward or any merit in his keeping the law. And so God blessed him with reward or blessed him with his grace because he kept the law. But rather, David is begging for God's mercy in his life to maintain that grace and favor upon his life. Don't mix these two together. But a good question for us today as Christians, when was the last time you begged for God to keep his favor upon your life? And I'm not talking about prosperity preaching or that Joel Olson preaching, but simply just God's favor in your life. And we know, of course, that the Holy Spirit is inside of us. He'll never depart from us, but just still, Do you have a recognition that only things good that happen in our life is because of God's grace? It's not because of your own doing, but it's because of God's grace. A familiar passage that's kind of similar to this is in Psalms 51. David says, do not cast away from your presence and do not take your host away from you. And so it's kind of the same idea that David's getting at here in our text. That he's saying that God, do not take your favor from my life. Do not take it away. And again, does your heart have the same cry for righteous like David does? Look back down to verse 17, it says this, that I may live. Now the NSV says, deal generously with your servant that I may live. The YLT, it says that confer benefits on your servant so I can live. Both these translations are good. KJV is the same thing. But the question is, what does David mean when he says live? What does live here mean in our text? Now obviously, David had to be alive at one point in time to write this right. So how do we get this? Obviously, David wrote it, he was alive. So he can't physically mean physical, you know, being alive. What does he mean by this, right? And again, as a reminder, this verse is not just an isolated verse outside of this whole chapter, but it connects with the previous passage that we talked about. In Gospels, verse 14, it says this. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and consulate your ways. I will delight in myself in your statutes. I would not forget your word. So here, right before our eyes, we see David. He's saying that he has more joy in keeping God's law than in the riches of his world. He also says that he's going to meditate on God's law. And then he says he's going to delight himself in the things of the Lord and make that his mission. And here's the focus of that shift. Rather, David further proves or give us more advantage points in keeping the law. Here in this text, he says that the meaning of life comes from God's word. It means that you can find life in God's word. Or a better word for the meaning here of life would be, you could find the purpose for your life in God's word, and find a fulfillment of that to walk in God's purpose, and have true happiness and peace. So David is teaching that the Lord deals gracefully or bountifully with men when that person gives themselves Christ as their inheritance. So when a person has a relationship with the Lord, and God gives them an inheritance with a possession that is Christ, they have a true life. You got that, remember or not? John 6 and John 8, Jesus talks about that this is life that they may have, they trust in me. I think it's John 15, John 17, I can't remember. But one of those passages, Jesus says that this is life, that they may know you or know me. He's talking about himself. So again, the person who has a relationship with Jesus, they get all things that come with knowing Christ. And to have all things or to have Christ is to truly have life. So it's possible to be alive but not alive at the same time. You guys might hear a familiar passage in Ephesians 2, and you were dead and trespassed and sinned in which you once walked. Paul talks about this too, how it's possible to be alive but dead spiritually. Maybe someone in this church right now, you alive right now, you think you have life, you think you have joy, you think you have peace or true happiness, but all that is fleeting because it's temporary. And David in this text is saying that true life True happiness, peace, and joy comes in Christ. Have a relationship with the Lord. And it ties to our next point too, which is, since God has given us life, we can live before God. Look, guys, look back down at verse 17. It says this, that I may live and keep your word. Now, keep your word, you guys know again, David's talking about law. He may use, I guess, the name of his words, precepts, judgment, statute, your word, law. All these different words mean the same thing, but he's talking about the law of God. that we may keep your word. Now, since God, in the last main point, talked about how we can find the source of life, which is in the word of God, and that leads us to find our purpose in Christ, it's only by application that we see that in the same word of God that shows us the source of life, it also shows us what God requires of us as people, how to live as redeemed. And you guys can see this, it's kind of taught, the reformers taught this in our catechism. One of the questions is, how can you glorify God? What's the answer? That was scary, but man, that was either time. But how can you glorify God? By being in love with Him. Another one, why ought you glorify God? Or why should you glorify God? Because He made us and take care of us. And the last one, where did you learn how to love and obey God? In the Bible alone. So this is not nothing new that you guys are not born to, or you guys just kind of just, you know, we don't know about. But this has been taught since the beginning of time, that God's Word shows us what's required of us. It shows us how to properly worship Him. But a good thing to remember is that God doesn't just merely save someone and then that's it. But no, he saves them so they can mark a relationship with him and live their life and purpose in following him. In fact, this is taught all throughout the New Testament. One of those passages, and this actually is a distinguishing mark of being a believer, someone that follows God's word or keeps your word, how David described it. Jesus said in John 14, 15, if you love me, you'll what? Keep my commandments. Another passage, maybe you guys aren't familiar with, but in Luke 6, verse 46, it says this, but why do you call me Lord? And it says again, Lord, and do not do the things which I say. So the question again, why do you call me Lord, and do not do the things I say? 1 John 2, verse 46, maybe the Thomas people know this by heart, but it says this, know by this that we know that we know him, if we what? Keep his commandments. And it says this, he who says I know him, does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth of God is an enemy. The very same book, chapter three, he says this. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. But the person that sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning of time. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifest that he may destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for God has seen and by seen him. In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are made manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is out of God. So you see here that David, even in the Old Testament, is not teaching anything contrary to what's in the New Testament. But you see continuity between this, that the person that keeps God's word is a follower of the Lord. But a question for us is that, where does your satisfaction come from as a believer? Where does your joy, your peace, where does true life come from for you? Because again, it's easy to say that, you know, we gotta all figure it out. You know, my life, my true life comes from Christ. But how often is that seen in your life in reality? When trials come, adversaries come. Maybe you get laid off from a job, the arguments happen. This is not treating my life as much as it should. And sometimes my satisfaction and joy come from other places, but it needs to be in Christ. And the person whose lifestyle is not a reflection of keeping God's word is also a reflection too that their satisfaction does not come from God's word. So you see the person does not have a relationship with God, does not find life in the Lord. Now, just real briefly, there was, there's two ways to kind of interpret what David meant here by life. Most commentaries were kind of divided on what he meant by this. One translation says that, oh God, display your goodness to your servant and thus I shall live. Or it could be better translated, oh God, grant to your servant the favor that while I live, I may keep thy commandments, or your commandments. And so if someone were to take the first interpretation here by life, what it means to live, David's meaning would be that without the favor of God, he's like a dead person in Ephesians 2. And that he needs God's grace to be able to have life. But I think it's a better translation, the second view, which says, oh God, grant to your servant the favor that while I live, I may keep your commandments. Because keep in mind that throughout this book, David's main goal is to magnify the law. And so David's essentially saying, hey God, allow me to maintain a relationship that's with you so that I can probably keep your law and obey you. And so here, we see throughout this text, we had a sin problem and sin problems that we find our satisfaction. in things other than the Lord and his word. And the cure that David gave us to this problem was that since God has given us life, we must love his word. And we had two points we talked about that we kind of unpacked throughout the sermon, is that the word of God, it leads one to the source of life, and the word of God reveals how to properly live before God. So let us pray real quick. Father God, thank you so much for another day.