A number of years ago, John MacArthur wrote a small, but actually a brilliant book, tiny though it is, it's entitled Found God's Will. It's a book about how the Lord gives guidance to his people. The opening lines of the book reveal that this issue of guidance has been a major question, a major issue with believers in Christ. MacArthur writes these words, As I travel around, one of the questions I'm asked most often is, how can a Christian know the will of God for his life? Most of us acknowledge that God has a plan for the life of every believer, but often there seems to be some trouble in finding just which way this plan goes at a particular juncture. There are plenty of books, pamphlets, and sermons hitting at the problem, and yet the answers seem to elude even the most persistent searcher. John MacArthur then goes on to list some of the reasons why answers seem to elude those who diligently search for God's will. It's because he says they have a wrong approach to trying to learn the will of God. One approach he mentions is that some people think that God's will is to be found by some type of traumatic experience. He writes, running down the street, you fall on a banana peel and land on a map of India. Immediately, you say, thank you, Lord, for that clear leading. I understand India it is. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point. Another wrong approach he mentions in determining God's will is to view God as just someone who's out to get you, out to make your life miserable, a cosmic killjoy who is going to call you to do just the opposite of what you really want to do. Now, you may think nobody really thinks like that. Many people think like that. In fact, I knew a young man who thought like this, so he was afraid that God was calling him to marry a young lady he was not attracted to, and he didn't want to marry her, and he thought, for sure the Lord's going to give me her as a wife. He's going to send us both to the mission field in a place I don't want to go. That was his view of the will of God, because of his view of God at that time. Listen, when it comes to divine guidance and determining God's will, there are all kinds of theories. Most of them are really a little kooky, a little crazy. There are some people who think, for example, that God is still speaking to them in dreams and visions. I actually know someone like that. There are others who believe that God reveals his will solely through circumstances. Circumstances may play some part, but not solely. I mean, after all, Jonah had the right circumstances to get on a boat and go in the opposite direction of God's will. So you have to be careful about that. And then there are others who think that God's will is found through just inner feelings, subjective impressions that God places on our minds. All of these theories in finding God's will are just that, they're theories, that's all. And they're erroneous theories that have led people into all kinds of foolish thinking, foolish behavior, and all kinds of silly stuff. According to the Bible, The Lord guides His people by His Word, by the Scriptures, the voice of God in written form. And He does this by laying down principles and truths related to every area of life. It may not be something direct, but there's a principle for every area of life. Listen to what the Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 1.3. seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness." Do you get that? Everything pertaining to life and godliness. How? Through the true knowledge, he says, of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. According to Peter, God has given us everything we need to know concerning how to live a godly life. Everything. And He has done this by giving us true knowledge, the true knowledge, He says, about Jesus Christ. And the one place He has revealed this true knowledge about Christ is in His Word. So if you want to find the will of God, you can find it. It's there in God's Word. And that's exactly what we discovered from our study last week of Psalm 119, because in the very first line of the 14th stanza, where we're at, verse 105, the psalmist says, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And what he means by this is that in a world darkened by sin with all kinds of falsehoods and foolishness that comes as a result of sin, it is the Word of God that gives us light so that we know how to walk, we know how to behave, we know how to conduct ourselves, Now, in saying this, in saying that God's Word gives direction so that we can navigate our way through this dark, fallen world, the psalmist, and understand this, he's given us just a broad principle, a broad and general principle about divine guidance. It's just a statement that says it's broad. His Word is a light for us. But what he does then in the verses that follow, is to narrow this broad statement about guidance down to some very specific areas of life in which God's Word gave Him guidance, and He's going to pass that along to us. And as we discovered last Sunday, each of these areas He mentions concerning guidance, He mentions them in the context of suffering. Why? Because those were His circumstances. He was suffering. You know that. This man suffered a lot as we've been working our way through this psalm. It's become obvious that the man has suffered greatly. He appears to be a dispersed Jewish man living as a captive in pagan Babylon, held in contempt by government officials who lie about him. They slander him. They hate him. They tempt him to abandon his faith. They even threaten to murder him. And so it's against this background of such intense suffering that he writes this massive psalm, Psalm 119, with each stanza devoted to instructing us about the various roles that the Word of God plays in the life of a believer. And the present stanza before us, he devotes this to the theme of instructing us on how Scripture gives us guidance and direction. As we've already mentioned the way he does this, he tells us about some very specific areas in life where God guided him through his word with each of these areas related to the very suffering that he was going through. And that's why, folks, these particular verses are so relevant for us, so applicable, so significant, so pertinent, because All of us suffer in one way or another, and many suffer in more ways than one at the same time. Therefore, we need to know what God's Word tells us, what light it gives to us about how we should respond to such suffering. Now, your suffering, my suffering may not be like the psalmist, but we all know about suffering. That's what the psalmist tells us concerning guidance about suffering. He gives us five areas in which God's word is a lamp that guides our steps We started looking at this last week, we're going to continue this week, and we're going to dwell a little and penetrate a little further than where we went in terms of looking even more closely and applying more closely some of the points we looked at last week. So it's not just review, I want to take you a little bit deeper. He tells us that the first area that the Lord guides us in is the area of our conduct. He tells us that God's Word guides us in righteous living. Verse 106 says, I have sworn, and I will confirm it, that I will keep your righteous ordinances. Now last week, I know that we looked, as I said, we looked at this in detail, but I want us to take another look at this because it is just so rich, it is just so practical, and you'll see what I mean soon. We've already discovered that what the psalmist means by these words is that he's telling us, in the strongest words possible, his determination to obey Scripture. When he says, I have sworn, he's saying, I have made a promise to God. I have made a pledge. I have vowed something. And then he says, and we'll confirm it. I've made a promise to God. I'm confirming it that I intend to keep it. These are not empty words. I intend to keep my promise. And the promise is that he will obey the righteous ordinances of God's Word, he promised the Lord to obey him. In other words, he's made a commitment to live righteously and godly, even while living in an ungodly environment amongst ungodly people. That's precisely the kind of attitude and the kind of commitment that each of us, if we know Christ, that we need to have. Because the world that we live in is just as ungodly, just as unrighteous as the psalmist's world. And the only way to fight the ungodliness around you so that you're not sucked into the system, so you're not sucked into behaving like everybody else, is by having a commitment to obey God's righteous ordinances. It is not going to happen just because you might think it will happen. There has to be a commitment, a determination on your part. Listen, if you don't have that kind of commitment to godly living, I can guarantee you that you're going to compromise your faith and you will find yourself living in conformity to this world so that from a practical standpoint there will not be any difference between you and your unsaved neighbor. This is why the apostles gave strong warnings to us to battle against the pull of our fallen world which tries to pull us into unrighteous living. For example, we read in Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, Therefore, Paul says, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, based on the fact that God has been so kind to you, here's what you do. Present your bodies, present yourself a living sacrifice, living in a holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Give him yourself. And then he says, do not be conformed to this world. but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect. We fight conformity to the unrighteousness of this world by letting the Word of God transform first our thinking, our minds, because our behavior always stems from our thinking. So if we think like the world, we're going to act like the world. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, once again, it's a general statement about not being conformed to this world, but we want to know some specifics. And I want you to see something that's very specific, very practical, and I trust very helpful, and very convicting. Philippians chapter 2, verse 14, just a little verse, but so powerful. Paul says, do all things without grumbling or disputing. Paul commands us not to grumble and complain. You know what he's talking about? He's talking about the attitude of criticizing and questioning God about why your life is so hard. Why it's so difficult. Why circumstances are so bad. Why me? Why do I have to go through this? And that's an area all of us need to. be helped in and get direction on because our natural inclinations, the bent of our hearts, when we're suffering especially, is to blame God, to blame him, to question his wisdom, to question his love. If you love me, Lord, why am I going through this? But Paul says, don't grumble. and don't complain. And notice in verse 15, the very next verse, he gives the reason why we should guard our hearts and our mouths against complaining. He says, so that, here's the reason, so that you'll prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world. Paul tells us that by not complaining and by not grumbling, we are going to shine as lights in a dark world. Why? Because it's a world in which everyone else complains and grumbles. In other words, by having an attitude that submits to God when He sends pain and suffering into our lives, we, by contrast, stand out as people who are different and distinct from everyone else around us. He means unsaved people. who constantly complain about the harshness of life. And when we do this, when we don't complain, even though we suffer, we don't complain, people take notice. Why? Because it's unusual. It's different. It's so different from everybody else. That's what gives your Christian testimony credibility, believability, authenticity, because others can see the difference that Jesus Christ has made in your life so that they will tend to listen to you when you tell them about Christ. That's why Paul writes, notice in verse 16, holding fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. Now, most of our Bible versions say holding fast the word of life. I suggest to you that it is better translated holding forth. the Word of Life, not holding fast, but holding forth. Because what Paul is actually saying is this. He's saying that by not complaining, we have enhanced our testimony so that we hold out or we hold forth, as we hold forth, the Gospel message to others. As we hold forth the Word of God to others and tell them about Christ, we have credibility. We have credibility so that they'll be more inclined to pay attention to us and what we have to say about Christ because we've shown them a difference in the way we live. We don't complain. We don't grumble. We're not mad at God. We don't blame Him and say, what a terrible person you are to put me through this. Listen, when you are suffering, you must be committed to righteous behavior. I mean, we always have to be committed to righteous behavior, but especially when we're suffering, because not only does it give glory to the God who saved you and the God who sovereignly rules over you and loves you, but it profoundly impacts others around you, especially unsaved people who will see the difference that Jesus has made in your life. But the only way you'll ever know how to behave righteously Even to the point of not complaining about your bad circumstances is by the Word of God. So let it guide you. When you read verses like this about not complaining, apply it to your life. That's God's guidance. So like the psalmist, make a commitment to obey the Word of God's righteous ordinances. So the first area of guidance that the psalmist tells us about, it's the area of our conduct, our behavior, because the Word of God gives guidance in righteous living. Second area that the psalmist mentions where God's Word gives guidance is in the area of suffering, as he tells us that God's Word guides us on how to deal with affliction. Verse 107, I am exceedingly afflicted. Revive me, O Lord, according to Your Word. So based on what this man has told us about himself, we know That his suffering at the hands of his enemies, he's very honest with us, it often brought him low. It often crushed him. It often caused him to fall into depression. What he's telling us in this verse is that this was one of those times. He wasn't always down. But he was now, when he wrote this, he seems to go back and forth. And that's why he's asking the Lord to revive him, because at this point, writing these verses, he's downhearted, he's discouraged, he is depressed. We can certainly relate to this man who hasn't felt discouraged, who hasn't felt depressed in the midst of great suffering, all of us. But the difference between so many of us and this man is that this man knew that the only way to get out of depression was by the Word of God. That's what he means when he says, revive me, O Lord. according to Your Word. He understood that the way God revives, meaning the way He encourages and strengthens and gives courage to His people, isn't by changing their circumstances, but by changing their thinking through the truths and the promises of His Word. And you know what so often brings us out of depression concerning our present bad circumstances, is to remember that we have a glorious future that awaits us in eternity. Let me read to you some of the verses. The Word of God specifically points us in the midst of difficulties to the next world. If you know Christ, For example, Romans 8, 18. For I consider, Paul said, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's to be revealed to us. He says, there is a glory awaiting us. And he means heaven, being with Christ, and all that that entails. That is so great, he said, I can't even compare it to the present sufferings. Not even going to try to compare it. But there's more. We read in 1 Peter 1, starting in verse 3, Peter says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Why have we been granted this? Why have we been born again? Peter says, verse 4, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. How do we know we're going to get that? Well, he says, verse 5, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. He means the ultimate end of this present salvation is that we're going to continue having salvation, have a physical aspect of it. In this, he says, you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been distressed by various trials. Now, Peter tells these suffering saints, and that's who he's writing to, suffering people, suffering the hands of persecution from the Roman government, that the way to deal with the persecution they were experiencing at the present time is to remember that it's only for a little while. It's just for a little while. It's temporary. It's brief. But, he says, you have an inheritance awaiting you in heaven that is permanent. And it's perfect. And God is preserving you for that. What is that inheritance? It's everything we have to look forward to. It's Christ's personal presence. It's the Father's personal presence. It's a life of perfect righteousness without any sin. It's a life of perfect peace. It's a life of perfect joy. It's a life of perfect relationships with others. It's a life where we get rewards. And every good thing that God has planned for us, which He hasn't even revealed in His Word, There's more. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, starting in verse 17. Paul says, for momentary, get this, for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Paul is referring to his suffering. And he suffered a lot. It involved the many physical beatings that he took from the enemies of the gospel. It involved the many physical deprivations he experienced in his service for Christ. He called it, and all you have to do is read 2 Corinthians and know how Paul suffered. He called his sufferings momentary and light. In other words, they seemed to him very brief, and almost weightless. And the reason he felt this way is because he knew that his future glory in heaven with Christ far outweighed any suffering he would experience in this world. And he knew that the more he suffered now, the greater his glory in heaven would be. Now, I don't understand that, but that's what the Word says. The more Paul suffered now for the glory of Christ, the greater his glory would be in heaven. And he says, I'm able to endure all this affliction by keeping my eyes, meaning his thoughts, his mind, not on the things which he can see, this world, but on the things which are unseen, meaning eternity. See, this is the way to revive your heart when it's discouraged, when you're suffering. It's by believing what the Word of God tells you about your future in heaven. With Christ, this world is not all that you will have for eternity. It's brief, it's passing, it's fleeting. This is how you come out of depression. You let these truths about eternal glory grab your heart. And you'll eventually find yourself with a revived heart. So the psalmist has told us that God gives guidance in the areas of righteous living and suffering. Third area that he tells us that God gives guidance is in the area of worship. By guiding us on how to worship him when we are in pain. Verse 108, Oh, accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me your ordinances. Regardless of all the suffering that this man was going through, he tells us that this didn't stop him from worshiping, which is a marvelous truth. He worshiped God by offering him praise, offering him thanksgiving, and his words are not empty clichés, which so often we're guilty of, saying the same things over and over without even thinking about them, but he tells us they're based on the Word of God, the truths of God's Word about him, his attributes, his works, his character qualities. This is why he says, teach me your ordinances, because it's from the Word of God he knows that we learn about who God is, what God is like, what he's done, and what he will do, and for this we praise him intelligently. Not empty words, not Christian jargon where we're not even thinking, but intelligent worship based on the truths of scripture. This is exactly the message of a great Matt Redman song, Blessed Be Your Name. We've sung it here many times. The words of the song need to be remembered and applied when we are suffering. I just want to read to you some of the lyrics without repeating all the choruses. I'll repeat it, I think, once, but I don't want to keep repeating it, but listen to these words. Blessed be your name in the land that is plentiful, where your streams of abundance flow. Blessed be your name. Blessed be your name when I'm found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness. Blessed be your name. Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name. Blessed be your name when the sun shining down on me, when the world's all as it should be. Blessed be your name. Blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering. Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be your name. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name. I wonder if you can sing these words and mean it. Mean them when you are suffering. Can you praise God when you're in the desert place? Can you praise Him when the darkness closes in on you? Can you praise him when you are on the road marked with suffering? The psalmist did. If he did, you can. God's grace is always sufficient. And he did this because he knew how glorious God is and he knew these truths about the glorious aspects and character of God from his words. So what did he do? He worshipped him. I recently started reading a book by John Piper. It's a book on the faith of three outstanding Christian leaders. One is Charles Spurgeon. The other is George Muller. George Muller, for those who are not familiar with him, George Muller was known as a great man of faith who trusted the Lord. in the support of many orphanages in England. And then Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. In the section on Mueller, George Mueller, Piper quotes his immediate reaction to his wife's death and then his later reflection on her dying. I know I've read this to you before, but it is so pertinent and worth repeating. Concerning his immediate reaction to his wife Mary dying, George Mueller said these words, Folks, this is worship. This is worship. In the midst of suffering, he fell on his knees and thanked God. But later though, in reflecting on how he strengthened himself, meaning the Lord strengthened him, in the hours leading up to and following Mary's death, he tells us why he could do this. It's because he knew the truth about God's character, especially his goodness and sovereignty. He said this, the last portion of scripture which I read to my precious wife was this, the Lord is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Mueller said, now, if we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have received grace, we are partakers of grace, and to all such he will give glory also. I said to myself with regard to the latter part, no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. I am in myself, he said, a poor worthless sinner, but I've been saved by the blood of Christ and I do not live in sin. I walk uprightly before God. Therefore, if it is really good for me, my darling wife will be raised up again, sick as she is. God will restore her. But if she is not restored again, then it would not be a good thing for me. And so my heart was at rest. I was satisfied with God. And all this springs, as I have often said before, from taking God at His word, believing. what he says. Folks, this is how the Lord guides us in worshiping him when we are suffering. He teaches us truths about himself from his word and then we respond in praise regardless of our circumstances. See, as you get to know who he is from his word, You get to see how lovely the Lord is. As someone said, what a lovely being he is. How good and kind he is. How wise he is. You will be then satisfied with him as Mueller was. And you'll give him praise that he is so worthy of. Now these three areas of guidance are conduct, are suffering, are worship. when we go through affliction. We actually, as I said, we covered this last week. I just wanted to take you deeper into this because there's so much rich application here. But we're ready to move on. We move on to new territory by looking at the fourth area of life. The psalmist says God gives guidance and it's in the area of danger as he guides us on how to deal with dangerous situations. Verse 109, My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget your law. Now the wording of the first part of this verse, my life is continually in my hand, it sounds a little unusual, it is a little unusual. We're not used to this language. It's unusual because it's actually a Hebrew idiom, meaning it's a unique Hebrew expression. What the psalmist is expressing then is that his life is constantly exposed to danger, that's what this means. It would be the same thought as we might say in English, I'm taking my life into my own hands. That's the thought. He's simply saying that he's always living in the midst of danger. And the danger that he was always in, he tells us about in the next verse. Verse 110. The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not gone astray from your precepts. The psalmist tells us that the danger he was constantly in is at his enemies. Those wicked men who hated him and lied about him had set snares for him. Snares are traps, as one would set a trap to capture an animal. Now, we would assume that some of these traps were with the intent of capturing him physically and then killing him, so that his physical life was in constant danger. And I say that because the psalmist has told us this throughout the psalm. This isn't anything new. He said in verses 84, 85, 87, so when he says that his life is continually in his hand he means that he's in constant danger of physically losing his life but apparently there's more than that here because these snares laid for the psalmist by these wicked men must have also involved trying to destroy him spiritually so that he would abandon his faith and faith in the Holy Scriptures and just fall away, just compromise. I say that because the psalmist has indicated throughout this psalm that these men hated him because of his faith. It wasn't his personality. It wasn't even that he was Jewish. They hated him because of his faith and they verbally attacked him for it. for his faith. He's already told us many times that in spite of all their contempt, all their lying, all their slandering of him, he wasn't going to abandon his faith in the Lord and his word. And that's exactly what he says here. Notice how he ends both verse 109 and then verse 110. Yet I do not forget your law. Yet I have not gone astray from your precepts. So the point that he's making is that in spite of all the efforts of these wicked men to cause him great spiritual harm in his life, so that he would fall into sin, forsake his faith, walk away from the Word of God, he says, I refuse to do that. And the reason he was so strong in continuing to resist their snares and refusing to abandon his faith is because knowing the Word of God like he did, he knew that God's Word gave him guidance on how to deal with the danger of others trying to lure you into sin and away from truth. Folks, all of us need to understand this. All of us. need to understand what God's Word says about the kind of spiritual danger we're all in. If you know Christ, you are in spiritual danger all the time, because if you are trying to live for the Lord, you can be certain that Satan, your enemy, will raise up unbelievers to set snares for you, with the hope that you will fall spiritually. And if you think that can't happen to you, remember what Paul said, he who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall. When you say, I'm okay, you're not okay. Satan can't take your salvation from you, but he can make you an ineffective Christian because of your sin. and someone who's of no earthly good for the kingdom of Christ. And he does this by setting enticing traps for us to sin. 1 Peter 5, 8 tells us this. Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Peter tells us the devil is always on the lookout for opportunities to tempt you, to tempt me, to fall spiritually. How does he do it? Well, understand this. He's a fallen angel, but he is a mad genius. He is a master of temptation. He has thousands of years of experience doing this. Listen, if he could lure away So many of the good angels to follow him. Think about that. Many who are now known as demons followed Lucifer. You think you and I are a match for him? Not at all. So, he tries to lure humans into sin by any number of traps. It may be by sexual seduction so that you will fall into immorality. It may be by luring you into some conflict with a fellow believer by sowing discord so that you get upset, you leave a church, now you can't stand other Christians, they hurt your feelings, you're never going back to a church. It may be by luring you into loving something so much that it becomes an idol. It could be a thing, it could be a sport, it could be a person, it could be your work, it could be money. And now Christ is not your first love. Listen, Satan knows all about your strengths and your weaknesses. All about them. And he will come up with just the right temptation to fit you. He knows you better than you know yourself. He'll come up with something that looks attractive, looks appealing. He'll use people, circumstances, even your successes, when you're not on guard, to trap you. So how does the Lord guide us and direct us so that we can have victory over these dangerous traps and say with the psalmist, yet I do not forget your law. I've not gone astray from your precepts. Well, notice the very next verse as you go back to 1 Peter 5, verse 9. How do we get guidance? What does he say to us to guide us in dealing with this? Peter says, but resist him, meaning resist Satan. firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. What we read here is that the Word of God guides you in how to resist Satan, and by resist, Peter means stand up to him, resist him, stand up against him. How do you do this? He tells us, by being steadfast in the faith. Steadfast, firm, In other words, you resist the devil by remaining firm in the truths of the word of God. And you believe those truths, especially the truths about Christ and what's related to him in the gospel. And the way you do this is by not listening to Satan. and his tempting thoughts, not entertaining his wicked temptations and trying to figure it out and argue with him and think your way through this. No, you don't listen to him. You believe the truths of God's Word. Paul said in Ephesians 6, 16, a verse that has meant a great deal to me, Paul said, in addition to all taking up the shield of faith, with which you'll be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. We choose to believe the word of God. That's how you extinguish the flaming missiles of Satan. So how does the Lord guide us when we face danger, both physical danger and spiritual danger? He tells us to be aware that you have an enemy that you must not listen to. Don't pay attention to him. but apply the faith that God has given you and believe his word, that is how you extinguish the flaming missiles of the evil one. So far the psalmist has told us about four areas where God guides from his word, he guides in the area of our conduct, suffering, worship, danger, But as he brings, as the psalmist brings this stanza to a close, he gives us one final area where the word gives guidance. It's the area of priorities, as he tells us, that God's word guides us on what is most important in life. What's most important to you? What should be most important to you as a Christian? Verse 111, I have inherited your testimonies forever. for they are the joy of my heart." Now, this is actually an amazing, astounding statement, especially coming from this man, and I'll tell you why in a moment. But let me explain. In saying, I have inherited, he's saying He's referring to what God has given him to possess as his inheritance. This is what the Lord has given him. He's passed on to him. He's received as a gift from God. This is his inheritance from God. And what he says he has inherited from the Lord, watch this, is his word, his testimonies. And this inheritance remains his, he says, forever. And he is so absolutely thrilled with this eternal inheritance of God's testimonies that he says, they're the joy of my heart. They thrill me. Now, folks, what makes this statement about this man's inheritance of God's Word being so special is that he's a Jewish man. He's a Jewish man. He's a son of Abraham. He's a citizen of the nation of Israel. And it was to Abraham and the children of Israel that God, watch this, gave them an inheritance of the land called the land of Canaan. That's their inheritance. That's why God tells the Levites, I'm not giving you land as your inheritance, I am your inheritance. But in this case, we're talking about the background of this. God gave the land, known today as the land of Israel, as an inheritance to the Jewish people. And not only was the whole land of Canaan theirs by way of inheritance, but God, as you read in the book of Joshua, he divided up the land and gave certain sections or regions of the country to the various tribes. This property was their inheritance and it was sacred to them because it was part of the covenant that God made with Abraham and to his children. So, you know, we just can't imagine today as American Christians, we can't imagine how important this promise of territory was to a Jewish person in Old Testament times. It was everything to them because it was tied together with their national identity as the people of God. and the Lord being their God, and the covenant God made with them. That's what makes this so astounding, because in telling us that he has inherited God's testimonies forever, the psalmist is letting us know that what is most important to him is not the land of Israel, but it's the Word of God. He says, it's the word that makes me most joyful and gives me the greatest happiness in my life. Not some property, but the word of God. See, this man, most likely, as I've said many times, most likely he's living as an exile in Babylon, so the land that God gave Israel at that time was under foreign domination, so its possession is something that he probably never saw again. But that's not true of the Word of God. He says, it's mine forever, forever. I may not see the land again, but I have the Word forever. And that Word is what brings the greatest joy to his heart, because it is his most treasured possession. I hope that's how you feel about the Word of God, that there is nothing you have that is more important to you than the Word. Nothing that you cherish more than the Word. Because, listen, this isn't just a book. These are God's words, so they are actually a part of God Himself. And there's no one more important than God. See, everything you and I have, everything will pass away. Everything. Your job, your house, your car, your health, Your money, your earthly achievements, even marriage, as precious as it is, will pass away. It will not. You will not be married in heaven. But the one thing that will not pass away is the Word of God. Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. So how does the Word guide us in concerning priorities? It guides us by pointing to itself as being of most importance. of most satisfying, giving us the most joy. No wonder the psalmist ends this stanza by telling us that his heart is set on obeying this wonderful word that gives him such wonderful guidance. Verse 112. And it sort of sums up everything. I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end, knowing that the word of God gives light so that he knows how to behave and walk Through the darkness of this evil world, the psalmist says that his heart is bent on doing what God says to the very end of his life. To his last dying breath. It's that kind of fierce determination that you and I must have in obeying scripture. That you will do whatever God's Word says until the day you die. Folks, that's what you have to have. That's what you have to have. That's exactly what your attitude and my attitude should be. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you should have a firm allegiance to the Word of God regardless of your circumstances. Why? Because it is the Word of God. And because you love it for how it guides you on how to live righteously. on how to be revived when you're down, on how to worship the Lord when you're suffering, on how to handle spiritual dangers and temptations that come from Satan, and it guides you on what's most important in life, your values. May the Word of God be your greatest joy. But if you are not a Christian, then I would urge you to open up the Word and let it lead you to Christ. It will. That's how I came to Christ, through reading the Word. Open the Bible, especially the Gospel of John, and read about the most wonderful person ever, Jesus. See His perfect character, His perfect compassion, His perfect wisdom, His perfect love, His perfect righteousness, and then see Him go to the cross and die for evil, sinful people like us. and then come, come in repentance to Him, trusting Christ as your Savior, as your Lord. May that take place in your life. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word. Lord, may it be the joy of our hearts. May your Word be thrilling to us. May we not look at the Word as something we just are going to read and get through and check it off as something we did in our quiet time, but may the Word of God dwell in us richly, Lord. May we love the Word like this man loved it, and may we see it guide us like he did, Lord. He took it so seriously, and we want to do that. It's so easy for all of us to read your Word and yet not apply it. So I pray that you'll help us, Lord, to see its truths, its principles, and to see how it impacts us, just like grumbling and complaining. I pray, Lord, Help us to be people who don't complain, who don't grumble, no matter what our circumstances are, because we trust you. Even as George Mueller said, he was satisfied with you. Even at the death of his wife, may we be satisfied with you. And I pray, Lord, for those without Christ. May your word lead them to you, and may they be satisfied with your death on the cross for their salvation. May they rest in you and become forgiven and new creatures in Christ. This we pray in Jesus name. Amen.