11-06 De Bijbel 7

Keeping God’s Word Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 7 Two weeks ago we started a sermon that I didn’t finish. I spent more time in Psalm 1, to expound the richness of that very first Psalm. This morning we continue in the Psalms and consider the longest one. We will only scratch the surface of this magnificent poetic masterpiece. The Scriptures is David’s focus and he clearly has a strong desire for God’s written Word. That is our question. How can I increase my desire for God’s Word. In Psalm 1 we considered the attention and time devoted to the Bible. We ought to meditate on God’s law day and night. Every moment of the day is an opportunity to think on Scripture. Psalm 119 opens by considering our walk and twice invokes the same blessing as Psalm 1. Walk His paths with every decision Psalm 119:1-8 David opens by connecting the veracity of our walk with the law of the Lord. The ought to be a correlation between my decisions and the Word of God. This strengthens the point made in Psalm 1, that the blessed man is one who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. BUT… he delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. The blessed man now also will go in the way of the law of the Lord. Moving from meditation to activation. Doing something. Acting upon. James drives this point home in His analogy of the man looking in the mirror (James 1:22-25). Don’t just hear… do. The verses that follow contain verbs that require you to do something: seek God (verse 2), do not commit wrong (verse 3), keep His commands (verse 4). Then we get to desire in verse 5. David expresses a wish that His paths were fixed, so that he would always do what God desires and has commanded. God’s law impacts the decisions we make and we ought to look for His path in every decision. Keep His Word for every opportunity Psalm 119:9-16 Perhaps one of the most important questions is the one David sets before us here. How? How is one supposed to keep His way pure? Again Scripture is the answer and then in verse 2 David connects seeking God with remaining close to His commands. The verse I would like to zero in on this morning is here in verse 11: I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Here is a most significant and practical plan: hide God’s Word in your heart. The result is verse 16: I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. There is a connection between desiring God’s Word and keeping it and not forgetting it. We call this memorization. This is echoed throughout Scripture. Joshua 1:8 Proverbs 7:1-3 John 15:7-8 Colossians 3:16 Memorising Scripture is an essential Christian discipline because it directly impacts the metamorphosis of our thinking (Romans 12:2). How can you keep His Word if you don’t have it in your brain? How can you speak His Word, if it isn’t already in your heart. How can you meditate on it day and night, if it does not reside within you? Now here comes the excuse… we have already stated the excuse in an earlier sermon. Most often we think we cannot memorize Scripture. That simply is not true. It may take you longer, but God created you with an incredible brain. The problem is desire… most often you don’t want to invest the time it takes to memorize Scripture. Let me quote the first sermon in this series: Jesus loved His Bible and had great respect for the Bible. He knew it and quoted it literally and applied it to the situations of the people he encountered - whether a believing disciple or faithless Pharisee. And in His weakest moments - in the wilderness with the devil or being tortured on the cross - it was Scripture that He spoke. Where did this Scripture come from? It wasn’t in his pocket or on His iphone. It was in His heart. Christ kept the Word for every opportunity. I read this in my preparations and I was to close with this: Memorizing Scripture will… Enrich your prayerlife Scharpen you witness Enlarge your confidence Deepen your walk and Beat your enemy. To aid you in memorizing Scripture the Church is providing a bookmark with 20 passages that every Christian ought to know. I encourage you to start memorizing.