This evening we turn in God's word to Psalm 119. Psalm 119. We're going to begin reading at verse 113 and read three sections. So from 113 to 136. This is the word of the Lord. I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. Thou art my hiding place and my shield, I hope in thy word. Depart from me, ye evildoers, for I will keep the commandments of my God. Uphold me according unto thy word that I may live, and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe, and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes, for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross. Therefore, I love thy testimonies. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments. I have done judgment and justice. Leave me not to mine oppressors. Be surety for thy servant for good. Let not the proud oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation and for the word of thy righteousness. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy and teach me thy statutes. I am thy servant. Give me understanding that I may know thy testimonies. It is time for thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law. Therefore, I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. Therefore, I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for thy commandments. Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Order my steps in thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man, so will I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law. We end our reading there in sacred scripture this evening. The text for this sermon is verse 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light. It giveth understanding unto the simple. People of God, devotions are a big part of our lives. Hopefully, most, if not all of us, who have reached a certain age of maturity, a certain point of maturity level in spiritual life, are doing devotions and regularly doing them on a personal level. And then hopefully we are also doing them on the level of a family, and maybe even doing them as married couples as well. They only usually take up a fairly short period of time, so they are not a big part of our life in the sense of being a huge time commitment all our lives long, at least not ordinarily for most of us. Even still, they are big in a different sense. They are enormous in the sense that they have a huge impact. Their impact can be great on the day at hand, on the way that we think, on the way that we speak, on our conduct, interactions with others. They are. one way of living out Peter's concluding exhortation at the very end of 2 Peter chapter 3. He says to his reader, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Devotions are an excellent way of doing exactly that. Literally, The word devotions has to do with a vow. You can hear and you can see the word devote in the word devotions. And so the idea is of devoting oneself unto God and sacrificing, vowing oneself unto Him. That's the idea. With that in mind, We could define devotions this way, I think, as the spiritual activity of drawing near to God to hear him and fellowship with him and to devote oneself unto him. So it's not just an aspect, it's not just the aspect of giving ourselves unto him, which is what the word devotions brings out, but it's also that aspect of communication, so that we go to hear what he would say to us, and we go to bring our words unto him, expressing our cares, our needs, our praises, our gratitude. And so it is, very really, a form of worship. This evening, we begin a series on various elements of personal, or rather, of devotions. The intent is to help us in our devotional lives by looking at various aspects of doing devotions in the course of a few sermons. The point, though, is not that all of these things must be incorporated, as if this is now a law for the way that you conduct yourself in your devotions. These are suggestions, things that may be helpful to incorporate, but not necessarily things that must be, although some of the sermons will treat of topics that absolutely should be incorporated, as tonight, reading of Scripture, that ought to be a part of our devotional lives. It's also not meant to be that this is supposed to set forth a rigid format, so that even if you do choose to adopt all of these elements in your own devotional life, that you then must follow them in this exact order that we take as we go through the series. There will be something of a logic to the way that we treat these things, but that doesn't mean that you must follow this in this exact order. There's freedom here, of course. Our approach in this series is to look at personal devotions through the lens of the book of Psalms, a richly devotional book, as you all know from your own reading of it. The Psalms as a whole could be described as the divinely inspired prayers and praises of God's people. And so it's fitting that we take texts from this book as we seek to consider devotions and understand them more fully. Where we make application, we are going to look first and mainly at personal devotions. We want to see how devotions can be done privately, first of all, because every one of us, as God's people, needs the growth in knowledge and in grace that is referred to by Peter at the end of his epistle, that devotions are able to provide. But we will make application to other forms of devotions. Family worship, family devotions are a key part of home life. And so we want to look at that as well as we make application. And then it's even good for married couples to be doing devotions together as a means of strengthening the tie between husband and wife. And so we want to look at that on occasion as well and make application there too. This series begins at a fitting time for us because we have had a couple of recent sermons that very much lead directly into this. They segue straight into this particular series. One would be the recent sermon we had on Lord's Day 12, the second question and answer. Why are you called a Christian? We're Christians. We have the Spirit, we are anointed of God, and that means that we can understand God's word. Every one of us, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, has the ability, rightly, to divide God's word of truth, to interpret it rightly, to get the main teachings of it as we study it. And then also, as those who have been made the priests of God, as that question and answer speaks of, we present ourselves as living sacrifices unto Him, which we just said a moment ago, is exactly what devotions means. The word has the idea of devoting oneself unto God, making a vow unto Him, serving Him entirely. And then, more recently, just last week, we had a sermon on Deuteronomy 6, 6 and 7. We heard about driving home into the minds of children the truths of God's Word, and centrally, their call, and our call, all of us, to love God, to love God with the heart, the mind, the soul, and the strength. Probably the best setting in which we can do that, drive home into the minds of children, the truth of God's word, is family worship, family devotions. When a father and a mother, but especially the father, makes the effort to explain a passage that was just read and apply it to the children's own lives, help them to understand it in clear terms, simple terms that they can grasp. and even personal devotions can become a part of the fuel that enables us all the more to carry out our calling according to Deuteronomy 6, 6 and 7. One final thing then by way of introduction and that's the motivation. It must be Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for what Christ has done. It cannot be A desire to earn with God by our great piety. It cannot be that we will do devotions properly if that is our motivation. We can't do devotions, can't really do devotions properly either if our motivation is simply mom or dad told me that I have to do this. The motivation needs to be gratitude. Gratitude for what God has done for us. through Christ, and so devotions presuppose His cross because we are saved through His blood. Joyfully, we open up God's Word in order to hear what is His message to us, especially as that message now centers in Jesus Christ, His Son. We'll return to that throughout, but we also want to set it forth right now in a general way at the beginning. so that then as we progress through the other sermons, we can see how each one of them in a unique way reflects that motivation of Christ and what he has done, which then gives us all the more motivation to engage in this good work of devoting ourselves to God through the study of his word. With that by way of introduction, let's now begin this new series Theme for which is elements of devotions in Psalms. This first sermon on the subject of reading of scripture. With the theme, illumination through the unfolding of God's words. Illumination through the unfolding of God's words. Unfolding God's words, their illuminating effect, and how this is so. We begin then, just briefly, by looking at unfolding of God's words. Because our text states this, the entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple. God's words. God's words are the whole of the Scriptures. It's true, of course, that the text simply says, the words of God, the entrance of His words gives light, but that just underscores the point even more. All of them, every single one of God's words, and so the Bible, the Scriptures as a whole, give light when unfolded. For the psalmist, depending on when Psalm 119 in particular was written, that would have likely just been the Pentateuch, or maybe, in addition, a little bit of Old Testament history. But the point then is everything that he had, all the Bible books that were in his possession, that he had access to, that had been written, all of them, he says, they are God's words, and they provide this illumination. Same thing is true for us, of course. All of God's words, every element of the scriptures, whether it be prophecy, or epistle, or a parable of Jesus, or poetry, or vision, or whatever the case may be, all of it, when unfolded, illumines. Scripture itself is the divinely inspired word of God throughout then it is free from error and it is free from mistakes. It is his communication unto us, his own self-revelation, serving all the more to glorify his name and to glorify Jesus Christ, his son. Emphatically, it is God's. Text says, the entrance of thy words giveth light. The scriptures emphatically are God's words. He speaks always. He speaks on every page of scripture. He speaks so that the Bible comes with his authority. It comes with his impress. It displays all of his perfections, and it bears his unchanging perfection. Not men, therefore. The scriptures are not the scriptures of men, the words of men. Now, it's true that God inspires men to write the words of the scriptures, and he uses men as men. in his inspiration of the scriptures, but that does not make the words of the Bible the words of men. Not ultimately. They are not the ones ultimately who speak. God speaks. Those words are unfolded. Our text says this, the entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple. So what is that unfolding? Well, the word that's translated entrance points to something being made known, to an unfolding of the contents of that thing. It's derived, though, from the word for to open, and hence the translation entrance here. The entrance of thy words. Entrance, like the entrance to a building. We also do speak of a figurative opening up of things. Open up the word and explain what it means. That's what we mean when we say that. So, this combines the idea of just entering into something, just coming inside. You could think of just walking through the doorway of a building. It combines that with Coming to a fuller understanding of that thing, and there you could think maybe of moving further inside the room or further into that building and seeing more of what is there. Those two ideas are combined here by this word, but the latter especially is our emphasis tonight. Moving further in and coming to a fuller realization and a fuller understanding of what is there. So this unfolding is a making clear, it is an expounding, it is a revealing of what is there in the individual words, in the passage as a whole, in various passages, in the Word of God collectively. All of it unfolded. Imagine or picture a trifold or a brochure of some sort or an old hard copy of a roadmap. It is folded up into a smaller size than what it actually is. And so you unfold it in order to get what is the content of that thing, in order to learn what is contained there and see what is there. So it is with the words of God. We unfold them. in order to know the content and to see what is there, what is deeply embedded in those words. They give information and they give instruction on top of that as well. But, of course, they are far greater. This is not just a trifold. The Word of God has an infinite number of folds, as it were, that can be pulled back, and more and more is revealed each time that we do. We come always to a fuller understanding of who God is, and of his truth, as we unfold the truth of his word. How that's done, how that unfolding is done, is on the one hand through preaching. Sermons do exactly this. Making a sermon involves the work of what we call exegeting. And the word exegesis speaks of leading out what is in the passage. Of course, that's a very similar idea to what's being talked about here, an unfolding of what is there, a leading out of what is in the passage. Sermons then also have the figurative sense of opening the scriptures for God's people. So they make clear, they show what is there, they give information, they give instruction, they edify, they exhort, they comfort, they correct and confront all of these things. Sermons unfold God's word though, God's words. Not the words of men. If that's what they do, they are not proper. Proper sermons are biblically based. They are not the words of man. They are the words of our God. But in addition to sermons, we can also say that devotions are a way of unfolding God's words. Personal devotions are a way of doing that. The context here is Well, Psalm 119. And Psalm 119 makes very plain that the psalmist is making a personal commitment to the study of God's Word. He is making personal statements about love for God's law and love for the Word as a whole. And so, in personal devotions, we literally open up God's Word, and then we figuratively open up what is in God's Word, unfolding that which is there. There will be more on the idea of meditation in a future sermon of this series, but that's not the only thing that could be said about the unfolding of God's Word, even just the reading of it. Just reading the words already is an unfolding of what God has to say to us. If you have in your hand or in your possession, rather, a brochure or a trifold or a roadmap and you never once open it, then you're not going to know the content of it. You're not going to find out what's in there. You're never going to get past the title page or the cover. You're never going to know anything other than what that says. That would be silliness. How much more is it not vital then to open up the Scriptures? It would be ridiculous to only have the Scriptures in our possession and never open them up. Never unfold what is there. Never read them. If we do that, we're never going to get past the title page. We're never going to get past the cover. All you will ever see is the words, Holy Bible. And you will not learn what God has to reveal to us therein. Simple reading of scripture is the most fundamental element of our devotions. Let's not overlook it. And as we read, words of the Bible, as we think about the words of the Bible, we unfold what is there, we learn the content, we see what's there, and we hear it as it speaks to us, as it exhorts, as it corrects, as it edifies, as it gives information, as it gives instruction, as it comforts, all of those things and more. Scripture, then, is the roadmap for you as an individual believer in this life. It lays out God's way. And it can do that, we can do that rather, even on a personal level. Because again, as we said in the introduction, we all, Christians, have the Spirit. The Spirit who leads and guides and enables us to come to a right understanding of any given passage in God's Word, at least in the most fundamental elements of that passage. All of the main teachings of God's Word are clearly revealed and we can, by His grace, understand them. What's true of personal devotions is true in this instance, essentially in exactly the same way of family worship, family devotions, and of couples doing devotions together. The Bible is your roadmap. as a family unit. The Bible is your roadmap as a married couple. And as you open it up and unfold what is there, you come to see what is taught therein. You understand the content. You hear it as it speaks to you, as it teaches, as it exhorts, as it corrects, as it confronts, as it comforts, as it edifies, all of those things and more. So there's benefit, not just to the individual, but also to the family and to the couple, even just in the pure reading of the words of God. These words have for us an illuminating effect. That illumination itself, there's parallelism going on in our text. We read, the entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto The simple, the two parts there, separated by the semicolon in the verse, come together to communicate the whole of the message, but the second half builds on the first, so that the verbs are essentially communicating the same idea. we read, giveth light, it giveth understanding, those two words that are translated there, are basically putting the same idea before our minds. The first word has the idea of causing the reader to be bright, and so illuminating the mind and the heart, increasing that person's knowledge of God and of God's truth. allowing him or her to live for him in a very clear, definite way. Verse 105 is helpful in this connection because not only is it more well known to us, but it's also teaching essentially the same thing. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The word of God illuminates the path which we must walk in this world. The second word speaks of causing to understand in a reader. Instructing. So it teaches, God's word does, it teaches who God is and what he does. It teaches how we are to live in gratitude in every area of our lives. And so this word also speaks of illumination. Even though it doesn't have the idea of light built into the word's meaning, This coming to a fuller understanding is exactly that. It is an illumination of our own minds and hearts. I think you understand in all circumstances. Always, that is true. There is no time when it is not. No part of God's word does not speak to the circumstances which we experience. There is no circumstance which we can experience to which God's word does not speak. And the section of Psalm 119 that we are focused on here, that Psalm, that verse 130 lands in, gives us an indication of some of the sorts of things that might apply here. of the things that might have been going through the psalmist's mind. Circumstances, when unfolding of God's Word would be particularly needed, particularly helpful, and circumstances in which that Word can speak very, very directly. So let's look at a couple of them. We read this In verse 129, thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them. He wants to keep the wonderful law. He commits himself to doing that, and it is the word that tells us what that law is and how it is to be kept. The psalmist is a sinner in need of forgiveness. Verse 132. Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. And the word. instructs us in salvation from sin, repentance, forgiveness, and all of that. The psalmist is overwhelmed by the oppression of men. 134, deliver me from the oppression of man. So will I keep thy precepts. And so he needs the reminder of God's sovereignty over men that the word provides. And then. He is filled with sorrow. On account of seeing the sins of others, 136, rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law. He needs the comfort that only God's word can provide. So it is for us. In all the varied circumstances that God's people may face, God's word speaks and God's word illumines when it is unfolded. If you are a young person seeking your own calling in life, seeking where exactly God is leading you in terms of career or marriage or what have you, God's Word leads the way and illumines your path. It provides guidance. If you are a couple, experiencing difficulties of some sort in your marriage. God's word leads you as a couple to a better understanding of what marriage is and the callings that each of you have within it as husband and as wife. If you experience some form of secret sorrow, the word of God illuminates you as to the light of gospel comfort. If you are a family striving to live sanctified lives in this dark, sinful world, family devotions enlighten you on how to do that in your own circumstances as you unfold God's Word. If you want to grow closer to God, illumination through the Word of God does exactly that for you. If you're filled with joy because of some great blessing in your life, God's Word shows you how to express your gratitude, and we could go on. and on and on. All circumstances, in all of them, the unfolding of God's Word gives light. For whom that's true comes out at the end of the text. The entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple. That word refers to simple-mindedness. It's not always a negative sort of term, but usually it is. Compare how it's used here and also in Psalm 19, verse seven, which we sang a bit ago in Psalter 40. Psalm 19, verse seven, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Compare how it's used there and in our own text in sort of a positive light with how it is used in Proverbs chapter 14, Verse 15, where we read this. The simple believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going. Ordinarily, it is used in that sort of a negative way to speak of someone who is overly simple and who does not have wisdom. They don't have good understanding. So that, in fact, this word really has a relationship to the ideas of persuasion and specifically deceit. That's really what's being taught by the word group that this word comes from. That shows then that even the positive use of the word, as we have in this particular text, speaks to a person who is not quite so well-informed. Someone who could perhaps even be prone to being misled or to deception. Someone who needs illumination because they don't actually understand that much just yet. So who is that? Well, we could look at various categories of the simple, but notice before we do that, understand this is not supposed to be a negative thing. This is not a pejorative thing in this text, in the applications that we make either. This is simply the word that the text uses to describe a person with a less comprehensive sort of understanding. So it's not an insult, even though it does humble. One category would be the little ones, the little children. Young children are very simple minded. That simply means that they haven't lived long enough yet to know a great deal about the scriptures and to know a great deal about God's truth and to know a great deal about life in general. They simply have not been alive long enough and their minds are not capable of grasping extremely difficult, large and theoretical sort of concepts. They're simple-minded in that respect. But that also means that they are very trusting, which makes them prone to being misled. If someone really wanted to, they could very easily deceive young children because they are so trusting. It's a good thing that they are, but it has that effect as well. But the words, God's words, give understanding. They illuminate them. Even littlest children can come to a greater understanding by the reading and the unfolding of God's word. Another category we might point to here would be somewhat older but less informed people. in the church. Perhaps this is someone who came to Christianity only recently, or came to the Reformed faith, Reformed theology only recently, and for that reason doesn't have the breadth of understanding that others in the church do. Their understanding of doctrine is more simple. Another category would be those who are mentally handicapped. It's not a stretch to say that even such people can be illumined by the word of God in measure, exactly because God has his people who are such, and he never leaves nor forsakes. And then one last category, and now it's humbling, all of us, every one of us is simple-minded. It would be the height of pride to look at this verse and say, that has no application to me. Only the simple, not me. All of us are simple-minded. Not a one of us has a full grasp of all the doctrines, all the teachings, all the things that are set forth in the scriptures. Never will we have that while in this life. And words of God illumine even adults who have spent their entire life in the church, spent their entire life learning and relearning Reformed theology. Every one of us is constantly illumined by the study of the unfolded words of God. So to apply that more directly to each of those categories and to devotions, children, clearly that connects to family worship, to family devotions. Even your small children need the illumination of God's word. They need it. And even they are able to understand the things that are taught therein in measure. Devotions as a family can help them do that. Regarding the older, less informed members of the church, they too need the illumination that God's word can provide. And they have that illuminating effect upon these people, giving them a greater depth of understanding as they study the word personally, even in their early days of Christian faith or of Reformed faith. And then of course, as they sit under the preaching and as they go to Bible study and such things as well. The mentally handicapped, just as we would probably be surprised by how much our littlest children are able to grasp and understand of God's truth, even before they're able to speak and confirm to us that that is the case. So too, we would likely be stunned by how much a person who is mentally handicapped is able to get from God's Word, able to absorb, able to understand, and able to know Him as He reveals Himself, so that parents of such children can be confident that they too are illuminated through family worship. And then all of us. This speaks, of course, to all types of devotions, but especially it speaks to personal devotions. Each one of us individually is simple, so each one of us individually needs the words, and each one of us individually is illuminated by the unfolding of the words of God. How? How are we illuminated? We're illuminated by God's gracious revelation, because we need that. We need the grace of God as we study the scriptures. We are, by nature, dark. And even now, as those who believe, there is still darkness in us, according to the presence of the old man. Imagine yourself walking into a cave. It is pitch black. You can't see your hand in front of your face. You can't see anything, absolutely nothing. But you have a lighter in your hand, and you flick on that lighter, and you use that lighter to light a torch. And now, holding forth that torch, light spills throughout the cavern that is in front of you, and you can see. You can see a great distance, in fact. It allows you to keep on walking, and as you walk, not to stumble. Spiritually, that's what God's Word is like, and that's what we are like. In our minds and hearts, they are black as the darkest cave. Nothing can be seen. We can't understand a single word of the scriptures. It's left to ourselves. But then God's word enters. Remember that that's how it's translated here, the entrance of God's words. God's words enter our hearts and illuminate. like the torch shining forth to light the pathway so that we can walk and not stumble. The underlying principle then is that God reveals himself. reveals himself unto us. Scripture is his revelation, as we already saw earlier in the sermon, so that the words are his words. He speaks, and he is the one who, when he speaks, he cannot lie. Titus chapter 1, verse 2. So that his words really do illuminate us, and therefore, we see grace on display here. We can't understand on our own, but God leads us on to a fuller understanding of His Word, of who He is, of what He does. But we can also say, as regards this question of how, that Christ is central in the how, because He is the Word. We all know the opening words of the Gospel of John. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. He is the word, the eternal word of God made flesh. But perhaps we're not quite as familiar with the words that come immediately after that. After those opening three verses of the book of John, we read this, verses four through nine. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That that one, Christ, was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He is the light. Because he is also the word. And it is through the word that we are illuminated so that he himself does. illuminating. As we read the scriptures, as we unfold the scriptures, we are guided in our understanding of them by the Spirit, as the Spirit of Jesus Christ, so that He is the one unfolding the words for us, unfolding Himself on every page of Holy Writ. And as He does, our darkened minds and hearts are given light. They are given a greater and a fuller understanding of Him and of His truth and of His gospel. And that's true even of the entrance, the entrance of thy words giveth light. Various commentators look at that and they make the application that even the opening words of the scriptures, the opening chapters of Genesis give amazing light to us as God's people. And so this is what's true of all of those circumstances we looked at earlier. How can it be that God's word illuminates in all those circumstances? It's because Christ is in the heart of all of that word. To the young person seeking the calling, it is Christ who guides you as your master and you as the disciple. To the couple experiencing marriage difficulty, it is Christ who unfolds himself and his marriage to his bride, the church, and unfolds the relationship that he and the church have as the pattern for how we are to live in our marriages. To the one with a secret sorrow, it is Christ who unfolds the comfort of himself as Savior. And to the one who wants to grow closer to God, it is Christ who, as the good shepherd, through the unfolding of himself in the word leads us on to a closer relationship with our God. So let there be among us a thankful humility. When you do your devotions, and I hope and pray that you do, check your pride. And let me check my pride, because every one of us is dark, dark and dim by nature. So give thanks. Give thanks for illumination through the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, what a wonderful thing that we have been illuminated by Thy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. In gratitude, then, let us study Thy Word, and may our unfolding of it Provide all the greater illumination on all the paths of life which we must walk. We pray these things in Christ's name, amen.