All right, Psalm 119 tonight. How many of you this past week read the psalm at least once? Oh good, very good. So if you did three letters each day and then today it was four that you would have read. So I read something and this week in preparing for this it said if you read it out loud in a speaking voice it takes 16 minutes to read it. So I said let me try it. It took me 18 minutes to read it, but anyway, but still, you know, 176 verses. It's a blessed psalm. I'm not going to read it before we get started. So, but anyway, you'll notice Psalm 119, you will notice there's no author, there's no title. that is listed. And the theme, though, is the psalmist's love for the Word of God, and that's the theme of it. Depending on who you read, every verse but one mentions the word of God. Others say there's more than that, but it is, of course, the main theme is the word of God and the psalmist's love for it. Tradition and scholars lean heavily for David being the author, okay? There are many phrases that are only used by David that are found in this psalm, and also it's Davidic in its tone, expressions, and experience. Orthodox Judaism, their tradition said that David wrote this to teach Solomon the alphabet. It's interesting if that is the case. In Bible times, Psalm 119 was the first portion of scripture that children were taught to memorize, okay? Now just remember, we lose it in the English translation, but all those eight verses under Alf, they all start with the letter A, and then Beth, and Gimel, and on and on. So it's a little bit, I would think it would be a little bit, if we spoke Hebrew, it would be a little bit easier to memorize it. in Hebrew than English. But some of the commentators said that this would have been a portion of scripture that Jesus himself as a child would have memorized. So I found that interesting. This is the longest song in the book of Psalms. It's also, of course, the longest chapter in the whole Bible. And John MacArthur says of this psalm, it stands as the Mount Everest of the Psalter. And this is a song about one, meaning one person, one who delights in and lives by the Torah. And is it David? You know, most Jewish tradition does say that it's David. But it's an acrostic psalm. And that is also another reason why people think David wrote it, because he's the only one in the Psalms who does that. So what does that mean? The 176 verses are divided into 22 stanzas, and each stanza has eight verses. of the 22 stanzas, they all start with the same Hebrew letter. So does your Bible have the heading on top where it says Alph and Beth and Gimel and Dalet and all that? It has that? So in the Hebrew, all of those verses would start with A, B, C, D, okay? And when the Orthodox people read this psalm, like in a, in a public setting, when the rabbi would read it, the people would chant back hallelujah between each verse. And Psalm 119 is used to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year, okay? So it's a blessed psalm. It's a psalm that many people throughout the years have gotten great comfort from it, and surprised to learn some things about who, it was their favorite psalm as I did a study on it. So there are ten words. We're only gonna look at some of the verses. But there are 10 words used to describe God's word. the Bible, of course, in this psalm. Jewish people see this as an allusion to the Decalogue. That's a fancy, big word for the Ten Commandments. That's our word for the day, Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. The first one, the English word, is law. but the Hebrew word would be Torah. So the Torah, the law itself, but not merely the law given on Mount Sinai, rather God's law in the widest sense or whereby he has made known his will to man." In particular, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy, okay? And that occurs, the word law, that occurs 24 times in the Psalm. The second word that is used frequently, testimonies, the Hebrew word adath, and it's God's commands considered as witnesses to his character and as attesting to his will. And this occurs 19 times, okay? And again, when you see that word testimonies, understand that there are commands of God that have to do and witness to his character. The word judgments, which is the Hebrew word, mispapen, theme, and it's a judicial pronouncement by act or word against particular matters of conduct or verdict. All right, and this word occurs 22 times. And the second word is chok, which is statutes. One time though in verse 91, it's translated by the English word ordinances. These are enactments of God as a legislator. but not confined to the written word. Sometimes there are decrees, and they usually apply to the positive rather than the negative. Okay, so these are positive statutes. That occurs 19 times. The word dabar, which is either God's word or words, his actual spoken utterances, and that occurs 22 times. The sixth word that is used, precepts, pekud, which is instructions given to men to direct their conduct and what is observed that occurs 20 times. Here's an interesting word. The Hebrew word is mitzvah. What does that sound like? Bar Mitzvah, son of the commandments. Mitzvah means commandments, and they are authoritative instructions, and that's used 22 times. And then we have Imrah, which means promise, but used rather as a variant, and it extends to all of God's utterances 20 times. And then there's two words that occur once, the word derech, which means way, or a course of life. It occurs eight times. And then emunah, which is faithfulness, means fidelity, and it occurs once. So there's really no outline other than how it's broken up by the letters of the alphabet, okay? But let's take a little time and meditate on this and look at a couple of verses throughout the psalm. Maybe you have some particular favorites in here. Of course, there's a lot of verses in this chapter that we're familiar with. But what a beautiful and blessed truths are found in every one of these 176 verses and 22 sections. A prayerful and careful reading of every section will bring to us great spiritual blessings. So, you know, we have to understand, friends, this whole Psalm is about the word of God and how wonderful the word of God is. Now, could you imagine sitting down and writing a song about the word of God using our 26 letters in the alphabet, and have eight stanzas, you know, for A, B, C, and never repeat yourself. Think you could do it? I couldn't do it, but that's what this is. And it's a wonderful, wonderful psalm. So what are some of the blessings for those who walk according to the word of God? Remember, this psalm is written about a person who loves God's word. Okay? And I hope and pray that we love God's word. And notice verse one, it starts out, blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. So notice the very first thing, those who walk according to the word of the Lord will be blessed. And what does that word mean? Blessed. What's that mean? Happy. Psalm 1. Happy is the man. How many of you here want to be happy? Okay. How many of you want to be cranky crabs? You know, if we study God's word, and if we read God's word, and if we meditate on God's word, and if we live by God's word, we will be happy. That is the key to Christian happiness. But so many of us, we're not happy. And what does that tell us? We're probably not in God's word. Notice it also says, what will it do? They do no iniquity, verse three. They also do no iniquity. They walk in his ways. So again, it helps, it keeps us from sin. What's that quote? The Bible will keep you from sin? No. or sin will keep you from the Bible, right? Isn't that how it goes? The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible. What a great, great quote, whoever made that up. It wasn't me, because I couldn't even remember it. I will not be ashamed, verse six, then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments. You know, a lot of times our life, the way we live our life, it brings shame. But if we live according to God's word, there's no shame. Verse nine, we'll be cleansed. Here's a familiar verse. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. You know, sometimes in life, You know, we sin, we get dirty, and the wonderful thing about confession is the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, but so does the word of God. It cleanses us. You know, what do we learn from Paul in 2 Timothy? That the word of God, you know, it's good for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction and righteousness. So we love, we should love the word of God. It helps us to stay, When we have it hidden in our heart, it keeps us from sinning. Here's another familiar verse. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Now, one of the wonderful things we learn in RU is about not only memorizing the word, but meditating on the word, okay? And I'm gonna question the RU folks, okay? When you memorize the word, where is it stored? in your brain, but when you meditate on the word, where is it stored? In your heart. We want to move it from the brain to the heart. So, memorizing it is fine, but meditating on it is better. So, hide it in your heart. It gives life and strength. Look at verse 25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken now me or make me alive according to thy word. Verse 28, my soul melteth for heaviness, strengthen now me according to thy word. So, you know, God's word revives us. It brings life and God's word also strengthens us. for the fight that we have. God's word is vital for us and that's what this whole psalm is about. It brings mercy and salvation. Look at verse 41. Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to thy word. Now, of course, we know faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And salvation, depending on the context, doesn't always mean our being saved from sin, although it does mean that. But there are also times God saves us from other things. And his word is very instrumental in that. And again, I have said this, if I had a dollar for every time I said this, I'd be able to go to a fancy restaurant when they open. Read your Bible, pray every day, and you'll neglect your Bible, forget to pray, and you'll And so many people who come into my office for counseling, been reading your Bible? You know, when trouble comes, and it's usually a good indicator, it's so elementary that we need to be in our Bible every day, but we don't do it. And it will keep us from so much trouble, from so much trouble. And God will have mercy upon us when we read his word. And just the fact that we have his word is his mercy. And when we read it and we heed it, he's showing us mercy. He's bringing us salvation. It is the ground of our hope, verse 43, and take not thy word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in thy judgments. A lot of hope in the world, isn't there? Not really, but you know how much hope is in here? I mean, all of us, friends who know the Lord Jesus, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus, and that's because his word tells us. Hope, and that's what the world needs today, hope. And hope is found in his word. It is comfort in affliction, verse 50. This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me. And I have a note here written in my Bible. from 2017, and I wrote here, this verse was so precious to me when my sister passed away suddenly, you know, and think about that. This is my comfort. in my affliction? How many times has God's word brought comfort to somebody, you know? Especially, I mean all of the word, yes, but especially the Psalms, you know, and how, you know, how precious it is to us. How many times has God's word brought us comfort? The Lord will deal well with us. Verse 65 says, thou has dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. And again, look at all the positives. All the good things that happen because the psalmist loved God's word. Merciful kindness and comfort according to his word are obtained by prayer, verse 76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort according to thy word unto thy servant. So again, how many times has God's merciful comfort, merciful kindness comforted us? His word is forever settled in heaven, verse 89. Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Isn't that wonderful? God's word is settled. It's eternal. There's no question about it. People may question it, but God's word is settled. It's sweeter than honey, I love that, verse 103. How sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. What is of all natural substance, is there anything on earth sweeter than honey? No, it's one of the sweetest things on earth. And God's word is like that. God's word is like that. I have a book by, I don't know who wrote it, but it's an autobiography about Sheffy. You know who Sheffy is? The guy that Bill went to high school with. And Sheffy was a traveling evangelist, I think around the Virginias and Carolinas in the 1800s. And when he used to pray, He used to put honey in his mouth because he wanted his words to be sweeter to God. He said, I want my words to be as sweet to you as yours are to me. And one time somebody came along to him and started talking to him and didn't know he was praying. And he had to swallow his honey and he got mad at the guy. But anyway, it's a great book. If you haven't read it, it's a great book. It's our guide in our life, verse 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. You want to know where to go and how to get there? Guess where you'll find the way? In the Bible. It will direct you. It will direct you. And I remember Starting in 2008, 2009, Sandy and I started praying, God began working in our lives about leaving New York and coming up to New England somewhere. And one day, I'm in my devotions, and I was reading in the Book of Acts, and Luke recorded, and make a straight path to Koas. Guess what county we moved to? Coahuasca County. I said, well, Lord, I guess you want us to go to Twin Mountains. But anyway, we were praying. We were praying about it. And I was reading that. I said, Lord, what are you telling me? What are you telling me? But sometimes he tells you exactly where he wants you to go. We know him as our hiding place and shield, verse 114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield, I hope in thy word. So what do we see there? Protection. protection from God's word, it protects us. It upholds our trusting hearts, verse 116. Uphold me according unto thy word that I may live and let me not be ashamed of my hope. And again, it upholds us. How many times, let's be honest, I'm raising my hand as a testimony. How many times have you felt like giving up the Christian life? It's just not worth it. You know, but what holds us up? God's Word. You know, you read that and you realize, well, that was a stupid thought I just had. Why am I thinking that? What's my alternative? You know, it upholds us. It gives us light and understanding, 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light. Light, I'm sorry, it giveth understanding unto the simple. And again, I'm just a simple guy. And I'm so thankful for God's word because it gives me understanding. In these days, it helps me to make sense of the craziness going on out there. We can order our life by it. Look at verse 133. Order my steps in thy word. Order my steps, you know. Tell me, Lord, where I should go and how I should live. It's pure, verse 140. Thy word is very pure. Think about that. There's nothing corrupting at all in God's word. It's pure. It's true from the beginning. Look at verse 160. Thy word is true from the beginning, and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. Okay? I take this verse literally. It's true from the beginning. What is the beginning verse of the Bible? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That is the truth. Right from the very beginning. First page. In the beginning, God. First off, there's God. And what did he do? He created everything. God's word is true from the beginning and it's eternal. So from Genesis to Revelation, everything in between, it's true and it's eternal, it won't go away. And it produces great joy. Look at 162, I rejoice at thy word. Boy, you ever read something and it just hits you? And man, you just do a glory lap around the dining room or living room or wherever you're doing your devotions. And it's just great. It's just great. And that, in turn, leads to praise and worship, 164. Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. And then great peace comes from it. Great peace have they, verse 165, great peace have they which love thy law. Is your life peaceful? If it is, it's because you're in the word. If your life's not too peaceful, telltale sign, So such, this is just a few, this is only a few. Every verse of course is precious, but this is just a few of these inspired sayings and praise of the word of God. And every believer finds them true as they read the Bible, meditate upon it, trust in it, and live according to it. Now notice this, the word of God dominated the author of this Psalms life all day long. Because look at verse 147, I prevented the dawning of the morning and cried, I hope in thy word. So even before dawn, the Psalmist is thinking about the word of God. Verse 97, verse 97 says, oh how I love thy law, it is my meditation all the day. So all day long, he's thinking about the word of God. Verse 164, we read that already, but seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. Verse 55, during the night, Verse 55 says, I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night and have kept thy law. And then verse 62, at midnight, I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. So all day long, all night long, the psalmist thought about and meditated on the word of God. Is the Word of God on our minds all day and all night long? I know I have to say no. What do you think about when there's nothing to think about? You know? I didn't mean it that way, but you know, when you're done, your day is done, you're laying there, you can't go to sleep, meditate on God's Word. Meditate on God's word, you know? Don't let your mind go somewhere where it shouldn't go. Meditate on God's word all day, all night. Spurgeon lists eight marks of true love for God's word. If you truly love God's word, Spurgeon says these eight characteristics will be in your life. Number one, reverence for its authority. You will revere it, you will respect its authority. Number two, an admiration for its holiness. You'll admire it because it is holy, it is set apart, it is pure. You'll have a jealousy for its honor. You'll have respect for all it says, not just some parts. You'll give diligence in the study of it. You'll be eager, you'll have an eager desire to obey it. You'll have a readiness to praise it. and a great desire to share it with others. We find these characteristics in the Psalm of someone who truly loves God's word. And again, I believe that David is the author of it, that's my opinion. But it's interesting, Spurgeon And Wilberforce and David Livingston are just a few who had the whole psalm memorized. William Wilberforce was a English England parliamentarian who was responsible along with John Newton to bring the slave trade to an end in England. And John Newton was his pastor. And it is said that walking from parliament to his house, He could begin to quote this psalm, and by the time he got to his home, he would be at the last verse. And that's how he would walk to and from Parliament, memorizing this. So, interesting. And so many people, this is their favorite psalm. So tonight, as we gather to pray in a moment, may we ask God to give us a greater love for his word. I think if I asked all of you, you would say, yes, I love God's word. And I believe we do, but let's ask him to give us a greater love for his word. And a greater desire to read it, a greater desire to meditate upon it, and then the ability to live it. and more boldness to share it with others. It's not meant to be kept to ourselves, you know? We read it, we meditate on it, we memorize it, we live it, and we share it. So, a little bit easier task this week. Read Psalm 120, okay? Once a day for the week. Okay, Mr. Andrew, I am ready to be