Father, we thank you that you are the God who saves. You are the God who has mercy upon the weak and the hopeless. You are the God who has sovereign grace that you bestow upon those who have no hope without you. So we thank you for Christ. We thank you that he is the hope, that he is the deliverer, that he is the mighty rock, that he is the only refuge for our souls. Now, as we turn our attention to Psalm 119, we pray, O Lord, that you would be glorified not only in the preaching of the word of God, but as we hear the word of God and that we would benefit from it and apply it to our lives and that we would be well prepared to corporately come before you in prayer here in a little bit. We thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Well, if you haven't done so, please take your Bible and go to Psalm 119. We're studying this wonderful, long Psalm, Psalm 119. Tonight is week three of our study, and I hope to finish it next week, Lord willing. And then we'll go to Psalm 120 and the Psalms of Ascent after that. But I titled this study, this four-part study, The Work of the Word, because I want you to see and be reminded that the Word of God works, that the Word of God does its work in our lives. I want to read part of Psalm 119. Follow with me as I begin in verse 97. Psalm 119, verse 97. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your word. I have not turned aside from your ordinances, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth. From your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn, and I will confirm it, that I will keep your righteous ordinances. I am exceedingly afflicted. Revive me, O Lord, according to your word. Oh, accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me your ordinances. My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not gone astray from your precepts. I have inherited your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end. And then if you would skip ahead to verse 174 and 175. 174, I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let my soul live that it may praise you and let your ordinances help me." Maybe you're familiar with the name David Brainerd, missionary, who was good friends with Jonathan Edwards. He served the Lord as a man who had physical ailments much of his life. He died as a young man at the age of 29, having lived his life to the fullest, even in the 29 years. for the glory of God in the preaching of the gospel and in meditation of the word. One of his journal entries, David Brainerd wrote this, one hour with God infinitely exceeds all of the pleasures and delights of this lower world. One hour with God is better than anything else. that this world could ever bring you. His passion for God has been described as a pleasing pain. That's his own language for it, a pleasing pain. He was a missionary, a young man, when he said, we must keep God before our eyes and we must walk in the ways of the Lord. A pleasing pain? Spending time with God, pursuing God, knowing God, treasuring God, finding satisfaction in God? When I think about my own Christian journey, perhaps you might be able to relate to this as well. Perhaps nothing has been so instrumental in my own personal walk than a regular, consistent read through the Bible plan, working through God's Word year after year after year. I remember as a new believer sitting in a New Testament survey class at the Master's University with a man who had been a believer longer than I had been alive. And he would tell us students, he would say, I've been reading my Bible every year, and he had been doing it for decades. And he was teaching a class on New Testament survey, and that so impacted me. I still remember that to this day. And reading through the Bible, reading through a Bible plan, reading through God's word with a plan to guide me, has guarded me, I think it's encouraged me, it's helped me, it's encouraged me in difficult times. It has refocused me, protected me, I think from burnout, no matter how busy, no matter how tired. No matter how early or how demanding things may be, or how little sleep I may have gotten, my mantra for life, I must meet with God before I meet with man. And reading through the Bible has so helped me, and it has so helped me not just to know the Bible, but I want to know God. And that's your heart. That's the heart of a believer. We want to know our God. Ponder this with me for a moment. Ponder the amazing, amazing truth of this book. This book, the Bible, was written over the span of nearly a thousand years. It was written in three languages on three continents, Asia, Africa, Europe. It has more than 40 authors from many, many, many different backgrounds of life. All the writers, I believe, were Jewish. There are 185 songs in the Bible, 21 dreams in the Bible, and amazing truths are revealed in the Bible that science discovered many, many, many years later, like the Earth suspended in space, orbiting, Like the earth being round. Like the origins of life. Blood being the source of life. The Bible has mentioned all of those things. Crystal clear. And when we read the Bible, we need to know that the Bible has a single meaning. It can have many applications, but it has a single meaning. The meaning of a particular text is that text. No one we should remember, ever decided what books are in and out of the Bible. Certainly not a man, or a council, or an organization, or a committee, or a group, or a human. God determined what books are in and out of the Bible. Man merely recognized what God has ordained. The Bible has, I would argue, one author. That is a capital A author slash small a author. And they are one and the same, because every human author wrote as the Spirit of God guided their hand to write exactly what God wanted them to write. Over 3,000 times in the Bible, it claims to be the Word of God. Amazingly, most of the times that occurs is the book of Leviticus. The Word of God changes lives. This book is alive. This book is real. It is divine. It is inspired. It is clear, sufficient, powerful, Christ-exalting, and God-magnifying. Augustine lived in the fourth century AD, and he said, we must treat the scriptures of God as if we were beholding the face of God. Meaning, he wrote, we must melt in the presence of the Lord. The Bible is the very voice of God. We can never know God apart from his word, so we owe great reverence and honor to the written word of God. I love this book. You love this book. Christians love this book. We come to Psalm 119, which is like the magnum opus of all of the studies on the Word of God. David, I believe, is the author of Psalm 119, and I think he wrote this psalm in the midst of great afflictions in his own life. Psalm 119 is extolling the Word of God, the majesty of the Word. I think it's been well said. We owe to the scripture the same reverence that we give to God, because the scripture is the very word of the Lord. Now Psalm 119 has been helping us with that. We've been forming and framing this bibliology in recent weeks, but not just for the knowledge of the Bible, but it's a means to know the God of the word and to love him even more. Remember in your outline, we've seen in recent weeks what it is, how the Word works. It gladdens you. It guides you. It calms you when mistreated. It protects you from sin. It comforts you in affliction. It revives you when you're sluggish. What I wanna do tonight, and you see it there in your outline as you walked in, is I wanna show you the work of the Word in three more features, three more features. I wanna show you how the Word of God works. Number one, tonight, I want you to see that the Word teaches you about God. Number two, I want you to see that the Word satisfies you above everything. And third, I want you to see that the Word helps you at night. More on that here as we work through it together. Let's just begin first. Here tonight, this is, I think, point number seven in our journey of 10 or 11 points on how the Word works. But tonight, the Word works because it teaches you about God. The greatest need, we might argue, in all of the world today is the knowledge of God. To know God, we will then know ourselves rightly. And when we know the Bible rightly, we will learn about God and we will learn about self. John Calvin was commenting on that in his Institutes, and he said, we must know our shaming nakedness. That's what Calvin said, our shaming nakedness, and our teeming horde of infirmities. In modern language, that would be our massive bundle of sin. We need to know who we are, and we come to know who we are when we know who God is. The word of God teaches us about God. Let me teach, just very briefly, what we learn from the scriptures about God. Let me remind you about the gospel that we learn. The gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, I deliver to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. The Apostle Peter is warning the unbelievers who distort the Scriptures in 2 Peter 3.16. According to Galatians 3, verse 22, it's the scriptures that shut everyone up under sin so the promise by faith in Jesus may be given to those who believe. What does the Bible do? How does it teach us about God? Well, it teaches us that we are shut up in sin. We are confined in bondage to sin. And it is only by faith in Christ that we can have freedom and forgiveness. Do you see? In Psalm 119, verse 38, look at this. What an amazing verse here. How does the word work? It teaches you about God. Verse 38, establish your word to your servant as that which produces reverence for you. That's what the word of God does. When we learn about God and we see God, it will produce fear, reverence, and awe of God. Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs Said every time you read the Bible You must remember that God is speaking to you How can we know God apart from the word Jesus said in John 17 verse 17 your word is Truth more on that next week And that's my job. That's my job as a pastor, as a preacher, to study, to show myself approved as a workman rightly handling the word of truth. to know the word, to study the word, to compile the word, to prepare it and to preach it so that you know God and you see it in the text of your Bible. I wanna teach you about God who is the fountain of the living waters. The Bible teaches you about God. It doesn't teach you everything exhaustively, but it does teach you what you need to know truly. It teaches you what you need to know truly. You say, okay, so what does it teach me about God? What does it teach me about God? You see in your notes there, I give you a bunch of scriptures. Verse 38, establish your word to your servants is that which produces reverence. So the word of God teaches you to fear and revere God. Verse 161 says this, princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words. Literally, I tremble before your words. Verse 64, the psalmist says the earth is full of your loving kindness, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. The Bible teaches you about the covenant love of God. It teaches you that your God is love, your God is covenantal, He is loyal to His promises. In verse 68, we read, you are good and you do good. Teach me your statutes. The Bible teaches you that your God is good, that everything in your life, every situation, every event, every relationship, there's no happenstance, there's no luck, there's no fate. It's God who is always in every moment of your life at work and he's a good God. He's a good God. According to verse 73, we learn that our God is the God who creates. Verse 73, your hands made me and fashioned me. Give me understanding that I may learn your commands. Isn't that great? That our God is the God who designs you. He creates you. He made you. All science, when rightly done, will always lead to the one true God who creates. That is what the Bible teaches. God has created and formed us. Verse 90, what do we learn about God? The Bible says your faithfulness continues throughout all generations. You establish the earth and it stands. We learn that our God is faithful. According to verse 126, It's time for God to act, for they have broken your law. God is a judge. We read in verse 137, God is righteous and upright are all of his judgments. I mean, we could go on and on with what the word teaches you about God. So if we want to know God rightly, then we need to study the word truly. According to verse 123, It is the scriptures that tell us my eyes fail with longing for your salvation and for your righteous word. We long for God's salvation. We know that our God saves. We know that he delivers. Do you know your God? Do you study your God? Do you linger with your God? Do you study the word that your God has given you? I remember years ago when I met my Elizabeth. I was a busy guy in full-time seminary and pastoral ministry. When I met her, I had this consuming desire that took over my heart. Suddenly, it wasn't Greek anymore, and it wasn't Hebrew anymore. It was meeting this woman and getting to know her. I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to study her and spend time with her. And we did that daily. And we would walk and talk and discuss and learn. We grew in our love for and desires for one another. And I think that's an idea of the heart that we should have for God. I want to know Him, and I want to spend time with Him, and I want to linger with Him. And if we are going to learn God, and if we're going to spend time with our God, then we have to spend time in the Word of God, because you can't learn about God apart from daily intake. from the word of God. This is what it means to know your God. And we learn about our God from his word. So how does the scripture work? What does it do? It's not just for us to know about a book, but it's a means to know the God who has communicated to us so that we might know him and love him and worship him and adore him. The word works because it teaches you about God. Second tonight in your outline, the word works because it satisfies you above everything. I am utterly convinced, and I see it every week on the college campus for evangelism, that all people are made by God, young people as well as I see them walking around, who are craving for satisfaction. But the world doesn't know where to find it. The world is looking for it and they're trying to find it, but in the wrong places. You have in your notes there a quote from Jonathan Edwards from his diary. He said, I had then at other times the greatest delight in the holy scriptures of any book whatsoever. Oftentimes in reading the scriptures, every word seemed to touch my heart. I felt a harmony between something in my heart and those sweet and powerful words. I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence and such a refreshing food communicated that I could not get along in reading. often dwelling long on one sentence to see the wonders contained in it. And yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders. I mean, have you been there? Do you know anything of what Edwards is saying? It's like I read the word, but I just, I just, I can't get enough of it. And it's like I get stuck. I get, I study it and I got to get through a couple of chapters today, but I'm only stuck on the paragraph because there's so much there. Edwards was overwhelmed at the wonder of the word. Notice in verse 140, that's what David wrote, Psalm 119, verse 140, your word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it. God, I love your word. Your word is pure and I love it. That which satisfies you, you love. That which brings you joy, you love. And here we see in Psalm 119 that the word of God does its work because it satisfies you more than anything. Look at verse 47. Notice what we read here. I shall delight in your commandments, which I love. Verse 97 says the same thing. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119, verse 119 says the same thing. You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross. Therefore, I love your testimonies. Verse 127, he says, I love your commandments more than gold. I mean, can we say that? I love this book, the word of God, more than all the money, more than anything, everything I possess, every possession, everything I have, everything to my name, I love the word of God more. I love verse 167. My soul keeps your testimonies and I love them exceedingly. Do you love God's word? Are you satisfied in God's word? How did the psalmists pray? Satisfy me in the morning with your love. Where do we learn about the covenant love of God? Where do we learn about the loyal, covenant, faithful love of God? We learn it in Scripture. How do we show our love? How do we show that we're satisfied in the Word? We show it by the daily reading of the Word. I think we show it by the regular meditating on the Word. That means filling your heart and your mind and chewing on it. It means we're hiding it in our heart. It means that we're satisfied by the Word when we defend it when it is opposed. It means that we're standing up for the Word when others are attacking the Word. We don't shy away. We don't shrink back. We're not cowards. We are ready to stand and defend the Word of God because we're loyal to our Commander. We prefer the word to be most precious, most precious. More than food, more than riches, more than possessions, more than everything in the world. Why? Why? Because this book is like the pillar of fire that God gives to lead and guide his people. This book is a mirror that explains us and it reveals what's going on in our hearts. This book is a pillow of comfort that you and I need in all of the afflictions of life. You and I need this book because it is the sword of the spirit by which we will fight off Satan's temptations that he brings our way. We love reading the words. We love hearing the Word preached. We love talking about the Word. We love even receiving reproofs from the Word of God. When it hurts and it pierces and it convicts and it shows us our sin, we say, I need it and I love it and I'm satisfied in it. I came across this story, let me tell you about it, about King Edward VI, he was King of England. On the day of his coronation, it was February the 20th, 1547. By the way, King Edward VI was coronated at the age of nine. So on the day of his coronation, he's presented as the new king. They are presenting him three swords on this royal, royal day of his coronation, three swords signifying that he's the monarch of three kingdoms at that time. The king stopped the ceremony, this nine-year-old king. He stopped the ceremony and he said, stop, there is one sword missing. And they say, what is that? And he said, it's the sword of the Holy Bible, which is the sword of the Spirit, and that must be preferred before all of the emblems of royalty. Oh God, give us leaders like that. but that's the kind of a heart that is satisfied in the word of God. There could be power, there could be royalty, there could be possessions, there could be wealth, but give me the word. It is the word that satisfies. Look at verse 103. How sweet are your words to my taste, yes, sweeter than honey to my tongue. Oh friend, this is what will satisfy you. It's what you're longing for. It's what you and I need. It's what you and I crave. It's what you and I are yearning for. So fill your mind with it at night. Fill your heart with it in the morning. Talk about it with one another. Text truths to one another. Call and remind each other of great truths because it is these that will satisfy our hearts. How does the word work? What does it do? Number one, tonight it will teach you about God. Number two, it will satisfy you above everything. Number three, and I wanna mention this, this is such great truth for biblical counseling, but it needs to be said, because it happens so often in the Psalm. Third, it helps you at night. It helps you at night. Have you ever had a time where night Sleep fled from you. You can relate to King Nebuchadnezzar. When he was awake, the text says sleep fled from him. He was even troubled, Daniel chapter two, verse one. He was fearful. Maybe you've been there. Maybe there's been a night where you've been unable to sleep. You've been awake at night, fearful and afraid. Where do we go? Elsewhere in Psalm 63 verse 6, David said, when I remember you on my bed, I will meditate on you in the night watches. perhaps one of the most profound verses in all of the Bible for counseling people who are struggling with different night troubles. Psalm 16, verse seven. Your word instructs me in the night. What do I need at night? I need counsel from God and from his word. Biblical counselor Terry N. said, instead of meditating on the difficult circumstances and our fears that are coming upon us, we are wise to fill our night prayers with meditations on the Lord's goodness. Let me show you in Psalm 119 where you can find sufficient help in the word for troubles at night. Verse 55, verse 55. Oh Lord, I remember your name in the night and I keep your law. What is David saying? That I am reflecting, I am confident, I am trusting in your person, oh God. In verse 62, at midnight, I will rise and I will give thanks to you because of your righteous ordinances. Later on in verse 148, he says this, my eyes anticipate the night watches so that I might meditate on your word. There will come times when there are seasons where I won't be able to sleep, hours that I won't be able to sleep, but I look forward to that so I can meditate on your word. not only late at night, not only at midnight, but look at verse 147. Even in the early morning, I rise before the dawn and I cry for help. Lord, you know what's awaiting me today. You know the difficulties that may come my way today. You know the uncertainties that are before me, but I rise before dawn and I cry for help. You see in your notes there, I give you a little bit of a paradigm for biblical counseling help. You're lying awake perhaps at night, maybe difficulty or decision-making or fears or worry or personal matters afflicting your heart and mind, and you don't know what to do because you wanna sleep, but sleep has fled from you. Just for the sake of time, I'll just rush through these briefly. Number one, you can meditate on scripture. Number two, pray for wisdom. Number three, trust God's sovereignty. Number four, listen to good, sound, theological music. Number five, develop persistent prayers or importunate prayers. Number six, count your blessings. And number seven, look to Jesus, because guess what? If you're awake at night, so is he. So is He. He is your righteousness. He justified you. You are chosen and loved in Christ. You are prayed for and protected in Him. You are freed from sin because of His cross. You are destined for eternal glory because of your Redeemer, and you've been called by name, and He says you're mine. If you're awake at night, you can come to this redeemer. You can come to this savior. You can come to this champion, this friend of sinners, and he will hear and he will listen to all of your cries. You know who also overcame at night? David not only prayed at night. Psalm 4 is a great psalm for those who need help at night. Nehemiah chapter 4 talks about those who trusted in God at night. The apostles in Philippi, after being beaten with rods and imprisoned, were singing and praying to God at midnight. Even Paul preached. I love this. He prolonged his sermon until midnight. Sadly, Eutychus fell out of the window, that's a different story, but he preached until midnight. Jesus prayed for three hours through the night in Gethsemane before he went to the cross. Let the unfading truth of scripture help you in the difficulties of night. What about you? Let's reflect on these things together. How the word of God teaches you about God. How the Word of God is that which will counsel you. It will help you at night. It will satisfy you above everything. Where in your life can you implement this? Is there a Bible reading plan or a time perhaps when the phone or the TV can be turned off and set aside and you say, let's go to the Word, to the Scriptures. Where can you implement this? How can you grow in your life? Is there anything that assails you that keeps you up at night that you need to turn to the word? Is there anything that is satisfying you and delighting you and enthralling you in this world that is going to perish and pass away with time? When you say, I need that refocus upon Christ and upon his word. Maybe what steps can you take tonight and tomorrow to look to Jesus, to implement these changes? Maybe in your life, is there an area to confess, a sin to confess, an area of your life to repent of? to look to Jesus and study Him and trust Him more fully in His Word and follow Him more resolutely and yearn for Him, because Psalm 119 teaches us about the man that Christ embodied, the man who loved the Word. Behold our Savior. What a man to trust in, what a man to love, what a man to believe in, what a man to hope in. He is our savior and he is our God. As I close before we pray, let me just say this. This book that you have right in front of you on your lap, it is the book that leads you to your physician who cares and who heals. This book is your counselor. that'll guide you through life. This book is your power for the spirit of God is at work through his word in your life. This book is your rock amidst the shifting sands of life. This book is your light to illumine you in a very, very dark world in which we live. This book is your hope that gives you perspective when everything else in the world fails you. And this book will lead you to your Savior. It'll lead you to your Savior who has overcome for you. And He has promised to give you life because He died on the cross and rose from the dead for you. Let's be like John Wesley and say, I wanna be a person of one buck. Give me that buck more than anything else. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the beauty of scripture, the satisfying nature of scripture. Thank you that your word teaches us about you. We want to know you. Your word helps us at night, it satisfies our souls, it points us to Christ. We pray that our prayer meeting now would be one that is blessed of you and that you would meet with us as we corporately pray, that we would call out to you humbly, believingly, obediently, boldly, Oh God, that you would come with power in each of our lives, and come with power in this church ministry, and that you would be pleased to transform us more into the image of Christ, that you would save the unconverted, and that you would sanctify true believers. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.