Well, I'm turning to Psalm 119. If you haven't done so, you want to do that. Psalm 119, part two. And I am thrilled to preach, again, the work of the word, the work of the word. And I have way too many notes up here, way too many notes. So we'll see how far we get. My goal is to woo you more to the scripture, to love the word, to study the word, to read the word, but then we want to pray it in a little while as well. Psalm 119, I want you to follow with me as I just begin in verse nine. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. With all my heart, I have sought you. Do not let me wander from your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways. I shall delight in your statutes. I shall not forget. your word. I want to tell you by way of introduction a story. It's a true story of a man named John, John Ruskin. He lived in the 1800s in Great Britain. And this is such a great story. His mother, from the youngest of age, John's mother made him memorize the scriptures, large portions of the scriptures. One of them was he had to memorize Psalm 119. And by his own testimony, he said, it was long and it was challenging. And as a young boy, it was chiefly repulsive to me. He didn't like it. But then later in his life, as a converted man, as an adult, here's what he said, quote, It is strange that of all the pieces of the Bible that my mother taught me, that which cost me the most to learn, and that which was to my childish mind chiefly repulsive, the 119th Psalm, it has now become the most precious to me in its overflowing and glorious passion of love for the Word of God. Oh, that you and I would have a love for Psalm 119 like that. Maybe you want to be like John Ruskin and try to memorize the Psalm. That would be a wonderful endeavor. It is intended, this wonderful chapter, to show forth the testimony of God. It is going to protect you and comfort you and revive you. We say with John Wesley, give me that book. I need the Word of God. Give me that book. You know, church family, as well as I do, that there are endless attacks in our day on the Word of God. There is no shortage of attacks on the Bible. On the inspiration of the Bible, it's God-breathed, the Bible says. There are those who attack the inerrancy of the Bible, but that's not true because the Bible is in fact perfect, the very word of our true God. And there are those who attack the clarity of the Bible, the clarity of the Bible. But that's not true. Paul's whole argument in 1 Corinthians 2 is the Spirit of God gives light and understanding to the believer. We really can have the mind of Christ and we can have the lucid understanding of the Word. There are those who claim and attack that the Bible is fallible, meaning The promises will fail. It's not really true to its word. This is the argument of 2 Peter 3. Many will come in the last days and say, where's the promise of its coming? No, no, no. The Bible is infallible. It is totally trustworthy. It'll never fail. I think one of the great attacks on the Bible today, probably the greatest attack, is the authority of the Bible. We live in a day when people have self-made authority. But no, the Bible is the binding authority from God Almighty over mankind, whether or not we want to agree with him or not. The Bible is authoritative truth. But related to that, there is an attack on the sufficiency of the Bible. Is the Bible really enough? The modern psychology movement attacks the Bible in that way. But I want you to know here tonight, I heartily affirm, and I trust you do as well, the inspiration of the Bible, the inerrancy of the Bible, the clarity of the Bible, the infallibility of the Bible, the authority of the Bible, and the sufficiency of the Bible. Psalm 119 will help with all of that. In this wonderful psalm, it's a praise psalm that the Word of God is extolled. In fact, the Word of God is extolled, but the God of the Word is to be worshiped. With poetic, literary genius, the author of Psalm 119 is going to extol the power of the Word, the majesty of the Word, and the supremacy of the word for all of life, all of life. And you see it there in your notes. I tried to lift for you the eight different words that are often synonymous in Psalm 119. Law, precepts, ordinances, statutes, testimonies, commandments, judgments, and so on. And you see some of the nuances there in your notes. But if you and I want to be like Christ, which we're commanded to do, to emulate Him, He was the perfect Psalm 119 man. We want to be Psalm 119 people as well. I believe that Jesus knew, and I believe He memorized, and I believe He loved the Scriptures. Have you remembered the many times that Jesus said, have you not read in the Scriptures? like in Mark 12, verse 10. Or when Jesus battled temptation from Satan himself, Matthew and Luke 4, every time, how did Jesus reply? It is written. Or in the public synagogue, He's given the law, he reads the scriptures in the public reading of that Sabbath synagogue scripture reading, and he reads Isaiah 61 and he says, today, the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. In John chapter seven, Jesus said, as the scripture says, you believe in me from your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Jesus affirmed in John 10, 35, the scripture can never be broken. That's the classic text, by the way, for the infallibility of the Bible. It can never fail. It'll never be broken. Jesus said in John 13, verse 18, Judas will betray me so that the scripture may be fulfilled. When Jesus was approached by Jewish groups to trap him, to trick him, to humiliate him in the Passion Week, Jesus said, you don't know the scriptures, nor do you know the power of God. Matthew 22. Jesus in Luke 24, after he rose from the dead, Jesus explained the things in the scriptures concerning himself. Remember Genesis 3? Remember Genesis 49? Remember the Passover in Exodus 12? Remember the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16? Remember all these things they pointed to me? John 5, 39, Jesus said, the scriptures testify of me. I love that. The scriptures testify of me. Our Lord knew the word, loved the word, trusted the word, obeyed the word, loved the scriptures. I hope to be used of God maybe in a small way to encourage you to love the word a little bit more and to love the God of the word a little bit more and to shape your life according to this book right here. So I want to show you the work of the Word tonight. Now, in your outline, you see last week we saw points one through three. What does the Word do? It gladdens you in your heart, it guides you through life, and it calms you when mistreated. Tonight, I want to give you three more, Lord willing. Number four, the Word of God does its work because it protects you from sin, it comforts you in afflictions, and it revives you when sluggish. I want to begin with the first heading tonight, the work of the Word. How does the Word do its work? First, in your outline for tonight, the Word of God protects you from sin. Did you notice what I read in verse nine? Did you see that? How can a young man keep his way pure? All parents should memorize this and have their young people memorize this. How can a young man keep his way pure by keeping it according to your word? I'm convinced all men, perhaps all people, should memorize verse 37 as well. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways. 133 says the same thing. Establish my footsteps in your word and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. I do want to remind you, sin is a monster. Sin is a monster. Sin is dangerous. I believe sin, according to the Bible, is a killing disease. Sin is all bad. There is never good in any part of sin. There is no good in sin. In fact, if we really think about it rightly, sin is utterly insane. It's insane. It doesn't make sense. It's foolish. All sin is self-destructive. Sin is never dormant, it wants to grow. It wants to infect and pollute and blind and cripple and destroy others. Satan, of course, the chief man who, the chief one, I should say, who brought sin into the world, is the one who wants to drag untold millions to hell with him. He hates all people. Sin is powerful. It is seductive. It is deceptive. It is cunning. Sin kisses, but then it kills. It'll make promises, but it'll never fulfill them. And you and I need to remember, what is it that is the safeguard? What will protect us against sin? And this book that you have right in front of you is that tested and tried and God-given protection. David wrote in Psalm 19, verse 11, in keeping your word, your servants is warned. There's a warning in keeping the word. We love that. We need that. And the Bible is likened to a hammer in the scriptures. in Jeremiah 23. It's likened to a shield in the Bible, Proverbs 30. The Bible is likened to a fire that will melt and it will refine, Psalm 12. The Bible is like a lamp that gives light to your path, Psalm 119. The Bible is like counselors, perfect counselor to guide you and guard you. Let's just briefly walk through a couple of these. Do you notice in verse 9, in verse 9 of our psalm, how does the Word of God protect you? Sexual purity comes by keeping the Word of God. How can a young man keep his way? The Hebrew word is ethically pure. I believe that one of the greatest ploys that Satan is dragging countless millions of young men and older and perhaps young women away is bisexual immorality. How can young people keep their way pure in such an immoral culture? God would say, know your Bible, fear your God, and obey the scriptures. If we look a little bit later on in verse 37, I love this. This is like my life verse, my fighter verse. God's word keeps you from looking at worthless stuff. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity. That Hebrew word means hollow, hollow things that are just worthless. There's nothing good in it. Turn away my eyes. Anything that's unreal, it's worthless, it's unsubstantial, turn away my eyes from looking at this and God revive me in your ways. We can turn to verse 113 and 114, where there's even protection so that you don't retaliate, so that you don't respond in an ungodly way, but that you can obey the word of God. Verse 113, I hate those who are devil-minded, but I love your law. You are my hiding place and my shield. God will protect you. Verse 133. I use this so often in biblical counseling. Establish my footsteps in your word. Don't let any iniquity have dominion over me. In the Hebrew, the idea is, God, I want you to cement every one of my footsteps in your promises. The Hebrew word for word there is the promises of God. I want you to cement me in the promises of God so that no sin will have any control over my life. The Word of God is like a roof. It guards you from the thunderous assaults of the evil one. The Word of God is like a door. You shut your door at night and you lock it. It's like a door that guards you from the invaders that seek to harm you. The word of God is like a smoke detector, which guards you from trouble within. The word of God must be your guide. You have it, you read it, you know it, you must battle with it, carry it with you, use the word of God. I'm telling you what I tell my counselees. you need to have a fighter verse. I call it a fighter verse, meaning when the time of temptation comes, you need to have something that you fight that temptation with. And that is the word of God. If you're tempted to fear man and the applause of man and the approval of man, then you need to have a greater fear of God. When people are big and God is small, you need to have a greater view of the majestic God. If somebody is battling a love for money, then they need to see the great sufficiency of God and how he is the giver of all things. and the greatest satisfaction more than all things. We need that fighter verse. It's like I told a young man in the counseling room just last week. When temptation comes your way, here's what I want you to read in God's word and you read it on your knees until the temptation is gone. Have that fighter verse. It's why we read the Word privately. And it's why we read the Word as a family. And it's also why, as a church assembly, we sing the Word. We read the Word. We preach the Word. We pray the Word. We show the Word in the ordinances, baptism, communion. We pass on the Word to the next generation because we know it is the Word. that protects from sin. Where in your life are you susceptible to sin? What's that one temptation that plagues you, that assaults you? What is that one area of your life where you say, that's it for me, that we all have it? What is that one thing? And find in the scriptures, to be your perfect protection from God, to resist. Not only does the Word, the work of the Word, number one, protect you from sin tonight, but number two, we're gonna see tonight, it comforts you in afflictions. Now, I want you to ponder with me for a minute the well-known words from Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter one. God comforts us in all our afflictions. Later on, I just, I love this verse, 2 Corinthians 7, verse 6, God comforts the depressed. There's not many times in the English Bible when the word depressed is used, but that's one of them. God comforts the depressed, 2 Corinthians 7, Verse 6. And I want you to look with me at God's Word. How does the Bible comfort us when we are afflicted? How does the Word of God work in our lives when we're afflicted? Like, I tell my children, and you could probably all amen this and tell your children, biologically or spiritually, you may not have many afflictions now in your life, but the day is coming when afflictions are going to come. The season of your life is coming when there will come great afflictions and great hardship, and we have to have a good theology of suffering now so we can prepare for when they come. Look at Psalm 119, verse 67. These verses will rock your world. because they will help you to respond rightly in affliction. Look at verse 67. Before I was afflicted, what did I do? I went astray, but now I keep your word. What a mindset, what a mindset, what a perspective, what a humbling mindset to have. God, this is good that I was afflicted because before I was afflicted, I was straying from you. Speaking of which, look at verse 71. It is good for me that I was afflicted. Wait, wait, wait. Did you read that in your Bible, verse 71? It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. We call that maturity. Maturity. You want to come to this point in your life. It's like the James one kind of mindset. You consider it all joy. It is good for me that I was afflicted. God, thank you for the hardships in my life. God, thank you for the physical affliction in my life. God, thank you for the difficulty that you brought into my life. Thank you. It is the providence of God because God is your father and he loves you. All the workings of God and all the afflictions that he brings are merely a mark of fatherly love. They are a mark of fatherly love and fatherly correction and a loving instrument of growth. Did you notice in verse 71, it is good for me that I was afflicted so that I might learn. That's the school of affliction. I don't think we'll ever graduate until we go to heaven. We're in the school of affliction together. And then verse 72, how do we get that kind of mindset? 72, the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Like what? Jeff, what afflictions is David talking about here? What are the afflictions that could come in your life? It could be afflictions within. Afflictions within. Worry, fear, anxiety, despair, shame, guilt, depression. So many afflictions that come from within. Second, it could be afflictions without. Enemies. A tough boss. an unbelieving spouse, a disobedient and wayward child, a strained relationship, something that feels like it's just harassing you and hounding you. Not only within and without, it could be afflictions upward. It could be afflictions upward. Am I really right with God? I feel like God has forsaken me. I feel distant from God. I feel like I pray, but God doesn't hear. That can be a form of afflictions. It could be afflictions behind. Maybe something from your past. Maybe an issue that has crept up again in your present and you think, I never saw that coming. I didn't want to think about that again. But it's from the past and it hurts. Maybe it's afflictions prolonged. They just don't go away. They remain. Maybe the sickness intensifies. Maybe the difficulties stay, and they linger, and you pray, but they don't go away. Afflictions within, afflictions without, afflictions upward, afflictions behind, afflictions prolonged. This is real. Afflictions unforeseen. I never saw it coming. It totally took me by surprise. I never thought that that would happen. I can't believe this happened. I can't believe he said this. They did this. They responded that way. I can't believe it. Or maybe this has happened to you. It could be afflictions manifold. It's like everything piles on at once. The car. the bill, the house, the relationship, the health, the job, the event. I mean, all these things just pile and they pile and you think, oh, I can't handle these afflictions. And yet we want to go to the scriptures and say with verse 92, look at that. If your law had not been my delight, then what? I would have perished in my affliction. Lord, if your word had not been my delight, I would have perished. I would have perished. I do want to draw your attention. For the sake of time, we can't look at the whole thing. But if you look at verses 81 to 88 in Psalm 119, it's the Hebrew word is koph. It's the koph stanza. And every one of those verses is describing the dark night of the soul. These are some of the darkest words in all of the Old Testament, perhaps with Psalm 88. This is hope while in great affliction. afflicted, depressed, you must pray, you got to go to the Word, you got to go to prayer, we have to hold on to Christ. May I just pause for a quick moment and just remind you on this point that the Word of God comforts you in affliction, that you have a Savior who is afflicted. Isaiah 53 calls him a man of sorrows. Isaiah 53 calls him despised and forsaken of men. Isaiah 53 verse seven, he was oppressed and afflicted. Psalm 22, he was a reproach of men and despised by the people. Hebrews 5. says he offered long prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to God. Even the most religious people of the day in Jesus's lifetime, they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. He knew what it was to be in agony. He knew what it was to pray very fervently. By the way, that word in Isaiah 53 verse 3, he's a man of sorrows. The word for sorrows is not only plural for intensification, but the word for sorrows could be translated beatings. He is a man who has gone through much affliction, much hardship, many beatings. He bled, he died, he suffered, and he did it for us. He did it for us. By the way, just very briefly, maybe I can touch on number three in your outline. Because our Savior is so good. He went through the afflictions. He went through the trials. He went through the difficulties. He is our only hope. He is your only hope. For sinners to repent and believe upon Him for life. But isn't it really humbling that you and I can relate to number three here in your notes. Don't we sometimes feel sluggish? We need reviving of soul. We are worried and distracted, like Jesus said, oh Martha, Martha. We can often be like the church in Revelation three, lukewarm. We can certainly relate to the church at Ephesus in Revelation two, you left your first love. After all that Christ has done for us, isn't it quite humiliating that we can be sluggish for Him? That we can be lukewarm for Him? That we can say, I know I ought to read the Word, I ought to pray, I ought to spend time in the Word, I know my spiritual life isn't what it could be. Fair enough, that's true. But how can we be cold and lifeless and stagnant because of the glorious work that our Savior has done for us? And yet that's a very real part of our lives. It's very real. And let me just mention a couple of verses. Follow with me in verse 25. What do we do when we need that spiritual reviving? Verse 25. We know that God is great. We know that Jesus alone saves. We know that we ought to delight in him. Verse 25. Look at what the psalmist said. My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word. 37, turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways. Verse 40, behold, I long for your precepts, revive me through your righteousness. Verse 93, I will never forget your precepts for by them you have revived me. Can you say that? Lord, I don't want to forget your word because your word has revived me. It's given life to my heart at times when I can be so sluggish. I need reviving. You need reviving. We need reviving. And how does that come? Look at verse 159. How does reviving come? Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, O Lord, according to your loving kindness. We are revived by the love of God in spending time in the word of God. And you know what? Get this, Christian. You and I can be sluggish, but guess what? Your Savior's love is not. And you and I can be wayward, and you and I can be distant, and you and I can be lazy, and you and I can be kind of cold-hearted toward our Savior, but he is never cold-hearted. He is never lazy toward me and you. Jesus would say to you in great love, as his beloved blood-bought child, he would say, like he said to the church, I want you to remember what you did at first, and repent, and then do the things that you did at first. Pray. Pray and call upon the Lord and pray to God. Fire this heart with a greater love for you. Great prayer to the Lord and he will hear. What does the word of God do? It revives you. It revives you. Maybe you're like me and you can read the word. And then by the end of the day, you scratch your head and think, what did I read in the word? We can hear a sermon, we can take notes, and then we think, what did I hear from the word? And how has it changed my life? We can be so sluggish, but right here is God's good gift to revive us when we are sluggish. Oh, give me that book. I need the book. I need the word of God. Let me give you some practical implementation points. Number one, read it. Read it. Maybe that's the obvious application. Read the word. Number two, pray it. Pray it. Pray it. You go back to these verses that you've written down, the verses in the outline, and turn them back into prayers to God. Number three, hear it. Pray it, read it, hear it. Hear it preached. Hear it exposited. Fourth, ponder it. Ponder it. Maybe you go to the park. Maybe you walk. Maybe you drive. As you shower, as you work out, as you're on a break, as you're on lunch, thinking, chewing on the Word of God. And then fifth, obey it. Obey it. We have a great Savior. a great savior who lived the perfect life that we could never live. And he did that because he was a man of the book. He loved the word. It led him all the way to the cross. It sustained him during the cross. And he preached about himself from the word after he rose from the dead. What a savior and what a word that we have. Amen.