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After another delightful VBS week in the 23rd Psalm, memorizing it and meditating on it, we’re going back to Psalm 19 to complete our study of Treasuring God for His Works and Word. We see God’s eternal power and divine nature in the vast universe. All of creation declares the glory of God. That’s what we call general revelation. But creation alone never leads people to Jesus Christ. Something much more specific and direct is needed. We need this awesome God to speak to us. And that is exactly what He has done in the divine library of 66 books you hold in your hands, called special revelation. Do you realize the treasure, the uniqueness, and the absolute necessity of your Bible for your relationship with God, for your eternal life? Arthur Pink said it so well in his book, The Divine Inspiration of the Bible.
It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of the doctrine of the Divine inspiration of Scripture. This is the strategic center of Christian theology, and must be defended at all costs. It is the point at which our satanic enemy is constantly hurling his hellish battalions.
Along with David, the author of this Psalm, we are committed to a high view of Scripture. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul declared, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, convicting, correcting, and training in righteousness so the man of God would be adequately equipped for every good work.” In the very next verse, Paul solemnly charged Timothy to “Preach the Word.” Hebrews describes God’s Word as living, powerful, sharper than any earthly sword, and able to pierce all the way into the thoughts and motivations of the human heart. This book is the lamp and light for your walk, the mirror for your soul, milk, bread and meat for your spiritual health, gold and silver for your spiritual prosperity, fire for your passion, a hammer to smash the idols of your heart, seed to grow a harvest of godliness, and honey to sweeten every day in your walk with God. This is what David is describing in the second half of Psalm 19.
THE CHARACTER AND PURPOSES OF GOD’S WORD
Psalm 19:7-9, The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. [8] The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. [9] The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
David’s view of God’s Word couldn’t be higher. Here he lays out six titles, six qualities, and God’s six purposes in the Word. First, we’ll look at six ways God uses His Word in your life.
#1 God uses His Word to bring you back to Him.
Psalm 19:7a, The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul…
It restores or converts or transforms your soul. No other literature in all world history has that power. The law is the torah, which means to point the way. It speaks of the entire written Word of God. It is perfect. The world claims it is full of mistakes and contradictions and not adequate for our modern, sophisticated, scientific age. But God says in verse 7a His Word is perfect. Perfect means it is flawless, without error, exactly what we need. Scripture carries the authority of God in it. It is “vox Dei,” God’s voice, and we are accountable to it. John MacArthur wrote, “What a person thinks about God’s Word in reality reflects what a person thinks about God.”
What’s its purpose? It’s not just a book of stories from long ago and far away. It’s God’s love letter to your soul to bring you back from the error of your way. It restores the soul. That’s the great work of the Word of God. We are all going astray and the perfect Word of God comes after us in the hands of the Spirit and arrests us, draws us, sometimes makes us feel miserable, convicts us of our sin and guilt and need of forgiveness. It gives us new spiritual life. First Peter 1:23 says we’ve been born again through the living and enduring word of God. When the Word of God is doing its work in your heart, it brings you to see your own sin, it gives you a heart to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and restores you to live for God’s glory. Education, science, technology all have their place, but none have the power to restore souls to God. This is the unique work of the Word.
#2 God uses His Word to give you godly wisdom (vs. 7b).
Psalm 19:7b, The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Your Bible is God’s testimony to you and it is sure, or God’s “amen.” You can count on it. Proverbs 30:5, “Every Word of God proves true.” That’s why it gives you wisdom. Without this Word you have no basis for discerning truth from error. The word “simple” means open, like an open door. Without God’s truth, you’re open to anything. “I want to keep an open mind about religion” means “I don’t want to submit to God’s truth.” Brilliant people without Christ and God’s Word are easily deluded, easily sucked into error. Why do we have this moral confusion and chaos today? How can intelligent people claim there are six genders, or men can have babies, or there are many ways to God (if they even believe there is a God). What about “You’ve got your truth; I’ve got mine?” Or “There’s no absolute truth.” Sin makes fools of us all and without a working knowledge of God’s testimony we have no basis for discerning truth from error, evil from good, right from wrong. God’s Word gives us godly wisdom, which means knowing how to live in a way that pleases God, beginning with faith in His Son.
#3 God uses His Word to bring you great joy and satisfaction.
Psalm 19:8a, The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart…
Precepts of the Lord are general rules from God intended to regulate behavior or thought. God’s precepts are right. They tell you the exact truth about God and yourself and your purpose in life. They take you by the hand and say, “Look, here is the way. Walk in it. Here is why I created and saved you. Live for My glory and you will find your greatest joy and satisfaction.” There’s something about the authority and absolute truth of the Bible that satisfies us, feeds us, brings us joy.
#4 God uses His Word to enable you to see life from God’s perspective.
Psalm 19:8b, The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Pure means clear, not smudged or streaked. God’s Word with all its authority shines into your life brilliantly, like sunlight bursting on your dark path. Like the blind man said, “Once I was blind, but now I can see.” Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” We need God’s light on our path. Psalm 119:130 says, “The unfolding of your Word gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.” God’s Word gives you an eternal perspective. Scripture shines the light on every area of your life – your purpose, your desires, your relationships, your work, your marriage, your family. Rather than blaming other people, you develop a Genesis 50 outlook on life: You meant it for evil but God meant it for good! Rather than running, hiding, covering, and blaming like Adam and Eve did when they sinned, you let God search your heart to see your need for His forgiveness and grace.
#5 God uses His Word to cleanse you of sin.
Psalm 19:9a, The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever…
One of the huge effects of the power of God’s Word as it gets traction in your life and pierces down into your soul is that you grow in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. It makes you take sin seriously. You quit making excuses for your sins. You confess your sins and God’s Word brings you back to the cross over and over. With Paul you declare, “Oh, wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.7:24).
And all that God’s Word is and does lasts forever. We don’t need additional revelations, dreams, or visions. We have all we need right here in this divine library. Scripture is sufficient for life and godliness and stands supreme over every other religious book or tradition.
Psalm 119:160, The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.
The timeless truths of the Bible never become obsolete. We ignore their truths to our own destruction. God is still God; He hasn’t changed. Man is still born a fallen, depraved sinner in need of salvation by God’s grace. The wages of sin is still death. The Gospel is still the power of God to save sinners. Marriage is still between a man and a woman. Homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery, and fornication are still sins. Women are still women and men are still men, as God designed us. Women have babies; men don’t. There’s still an eternal heaven above and hell in the lake of fire. And Jesus is still the only way to the Father, the only name given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
#6 God uses His word to assure you of His perfect justice.
Psalm 19:9b, The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
God’s judgments revealed in Scripture are true and righteous altogether! We have a God of perfect justice. All God’s decisions, verdicts, judgments are true and right, based on facts. No one will blame God for being unfair or unjust in His judgments. They are righteous ALTOGETHER; every one of them. Paul declared this to the elite philosophers of the first century in Athens.
Acts 17:31, God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
The only way to survive His righteous judgment is through the gospel, through Christ bearing the punishment for your sin and imputing to you His perfect righteousness. That’s how He Himself satisfies His justice for sinners. You can’t go through this life successfully without this perfect and powerful Word.
John Wesley wrote, “Before I drop into an unchangeable eternity, I want to know one thing – the way to heaven, how to land safely on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end He came from heaven. He has written it down in a book. O give me that Book. At any price, give me the Book of God! Let me be a man of one book.”
TREASURE GOD’S WORD AS YOUR GREATEST EARTHLY POSSESSION
Psalm 19:10-11, They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. [11] Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.
What a treasure we have here. It’s a mountain of spiritual wealth. No wonder Satan never tires of attacking it, beginning right there in the garden as he twisted and perverted God’s Word and continuing right down to our own times, using apostasy and liberalism to reject, revise, or replace the Bible with humanistic theories.
But along with David, we are committed to the inerrancy, authority, sufficiency and supremacy of God’s Word for all of life. Its value is inexpressible. David says its value is higher than the finest gold you can come up with. Not only that, but its blessing to your soul is also sweeter than the sweetest honey. If you had to make a choice between your million-dollar investment and never seeing a Bible again, what would you choose? Job said, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Psalm 119:11, “Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”
LET GOD’S WORD HAVE FULL IMPACT ON YOUR HEART
Psalm 19:11-14, Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. [12] Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. [13] Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. [14] Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
David ends this great Psalm with personal application, which is exactly what we need to do whenever we read our Bibles. He applies the Word right down to his heart. God’s purpose for His Word in your life is not just to change your behavior but to change your heart. Let’s close by applying these final thoughts to your heart.
Verse 11: God gives you warnings and rewards for submitting to His Word. This doesn’t mean you work your way to heaven, but the fact is, God blesses doers of the Word and not hearers only. And we need warnings in this world. Life is a minefield. The Bible is a map to safety, exposing the spiritual trap doors, land mines, and poisons of the world.
Verse 12: God searches out those secret sinful thoughts no one else knows about and forgives. He acquits us. These verses show us that Scripture leaves no sin condoned. Not one. God is absolutely holy. He does forgive our sins but they are still sins. Even hidden ones. Spurgeon wrote, “Secret sins, like private conspirators, must be hunted out, or they may do deadly mischief.” We need Scripture to x-ray our souls to expose those secret sins. Thank God He acquits the guilty.
Verse 13: God has the power through His Spirit and His Word to keep us from presumptuous or arrogant sins; those sins we think or do knowing full well they are sins and deserve punishment. As God deals with us, humbles us, and brings us to repentance, He is ready to forgive us even of great transgression. Look at Moses the murderer. David the adulterer. Paul the persecutor.
Verse 14: Finally David submits his words and his heart’s thoughts to the Lord and finds his Lord, his rock and redeemer. As we submit to God’s Word we too find our Savior Jesus Christ, our rock of stability, and our Redeemer, the one who shed his blood to forgive us and save us from our sin.
SO WHAT?
David had a high view of God and so should we. Test yourself. Do you have an appetite for God’s Word? Do you long for its teaching like a baby longs for milk? You can try to feed a corpse the finest steak and lobster available, but he’ll have no appetite for it. Why? You can show a blind person an exquisite sunset or play the hallelujah chorus to a deaf man. They’ll find no pleasure in these things. The only people who have an appetite for God’s Word are people who have a new heart through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the entrance to this grand 66-book Divine library of the Bible. Embrace Christ as your Lord and Savior, your Rock and Redeemer. Ask God to give you a great appetite for Him and to find great delight in the precious Word of the living God.
The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
Mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal,
And they glow with a light sublime.
The Bible stands though the hills may tumble.
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble.
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the Bible stands!