Last week I told you that Monday marked the 499th anniversary of the launching of the Protestant Reformation, as Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the castle church at Wittenberg, Germany. But if Luther was the one who ignited the Reformation, then the man who is credited with defining the theology of the Reformation is John Calvin. In fact, one of Calvin's contemporaries labeled him simply the theologian, just known as the theologian. And as a theologian, John Calvin is best known today as the architect of that system of theology that focuses on the sovereignty of God, commonly referred to as Calvinism. However, what most people don't know about John Calvin is that first and foremost, Calvin was a pastor. He was a pastor who loved to preach the Word of God to his congregation in the city of Geneva. One of his biographers, in fact one of the foremost biographers of Calvin, said this concerning him. He said, while he has come to be remembered as a theologian who recovered the doctrinal landmarks which have been buried underneath the debris of confused centuries, or as a powerful controversialist whose name opponents have sought to fasten upon beliefs which they judge odious, the truth is that Calvin saw himself first of all as a pastor in the Church of Christ, and therefore as one whose chief duty must be to preach the Word. In fact, so committed was Calvin to the preaching of God's Word that there was a period of time in his ministry that his preaching schedule consisted of three weekday sermons at five in the evening, and then in addition to that, three Sunday services, one at daybreak, another at nine in the morning, and the last one at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. It's estimated that by the end of his life, Calvin had preached 4,000 sermons, and you know what, that doesn't include all of his class lectures and the massive 45-volume commentary on the Bible that he authored. So driven was Calvin to proclaim the Word that he often carried on his prolific ministry of the Word under extremely poor health because he was beset with many physical ailments. So, what was it that made John Calvin so tenacious, so insistent on preaching the Word so resolute in proclaiming Scripture. Simply put, it was his zeal for the glory of God. It was Calvin's high view of God's majesty, his high view of God's sovereignty and supremacy that governed his life, his ministry, and his preaching. You can see this clearly in all of Calvin's writings. But listen closely, because what made John Calvin so unique, so special, was that his high view of God wasn't merely academic. It wasn't just scholarly. It wasn't just classroom-oriented. It was filled with a warmth and a love and a devotion. to God and to his word. And in fact, the words that he is most noted for are these. My heart, I give to thee, O Lord, promptly and sincerely. You'll often see that quote attributed to Calvin, because that's what he's most noted for. Now, this morning, as we turn our attention once again to Psalm 119, the study of that psalm, we see that the writer of this psalm would have given a hearty amen to Calvin's devotion is love for the Lord. Love for the Lord and His Word, because that's exactly His sentiment, too. He loved the Word. He specifically tells us about His love for Scripture in the 13th stanza, which we began to look at last week. Let me read it again to you. He says, Oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies. They are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers for your testimonies or my meditation. I understand more than the aged because I've observed your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your word. I've 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. Now, last week we began, as I said, to look at these verses. And we noted that the key statement from which everything else flows in this stanza is the opening one. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. As you'll recall, having told us in the previous stanza that he had such confidence in the Word of God that he built his life upon it, and he gave us the reasons for his confidence in Scripture, now he just can't contain himself anymore. So he just bursts forth this declaration that he loves the Scriptures, and he tells us he loves all of it. When he says the Law, he doesn't mean simply the Mosaic Law. It's a synonym for all of the Bible. He loves all the Word and the proof of his deep affection for Scripture. is that this is what he meditates on all day. He says, it is my meditation all the day. Now, I want you to know that this is not the first time that the psalmist has told us that he loves the Word of God. He said it actually back in verses 47 and 48, I shall delight in your commandments, which I love, and I shall lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love, and I'll meditate on your statutes. And as we progress in this psalm, we're going to see that several times later in Psalm 119, he'll also speak of his love for Scripture. But nowhere else in this psalm does he express so fully why he loves the Word like he does in this 13th stanza. You see, it's here in these verses that the psalmist lays out for us some very specific reasons for his love of Scripture. And I'm so glad he does. He doesn't just tell us he loves the Word, he tells us why he loves the Word. And I'm glad he does, because in doing so, what he does is he helps us to understand what God's Word does for us, how it benefits us, how it helps us, how it enriches our lives. And when we understand how profitable Scripture is to our lives, not only do we gain a new appreciation for the Word, but we gain a deepening love and an affection for the Word. It's been my prayer for you as a congregation these last two weeks, and for me as your pastor teacher, that in understanding how Scripture benefits us, we will grow, not only in our understanding of it, but in our love for the Word of God. Not just reverence, not just faith in it, not just admiration for it, but genuine love for the Word. So why did the psalmist love the Bible? Well, in these verses he tells us three reasons for his love of Scripture. Last week we looked at the first one. He tells us that he loves the Word of God, number one, because God's Word makes him wise. Starting in verse 98, he says, 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. Now notice that in these verses, the psalmist mentions three groups, three categories of people that he says he's wiser than. His enemies, and he means those men who were persecuting him. His teachers, meaning those unsaved men who taught him secular subjects, probably in Babylon, as I take it he was in exile there. He certainly doesn't mean the devout Jewish rabbis who taught him the law of Moses when he was young. And he mentions the aged, meaning those who are older than he was, those who had lived a long life. He says that he's wiser than all of these people, his enemies, his teachers. his seniors. And the reason he has more wisdom than they do is simply because he has an understanding of the Word of God and they don't. Now listen, one of the most remarkable things that happens when we become Christians is that we actually become wise you may not think that you're wise but when you become a Christian you do gain a measure of wisdom and the reason for this is because it is to Christians and only Christians that God makes known the truth about Christ and Salvation and in knowing him and knowing his word we now gain wisdom the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that Christ became to us a wisdom from God, as well as righteousness and sanctification and redemption. See, to possess Christ as Savior is to possess, at least to some degree, His wisdom. And how wise is Jesus Christ? Paul told the Colossians in Colossians 2, 3, he said, in Christ, in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All of it. So in Christ, we're made wise. But folks, here's the irony of this all. When one becomes a Christian and finally gains some measure of wisdom after we lived foolishly and did stupid things in our unconverted state, while now we are wise in Christ, we are so often at that point considered by our unsaved friends and loved ones to be foolish and naive and gullible and anything but wise. In other words, we are now looked upon as giving up all sane and rational thinking because we have believed the message of the Bible about Jesus and salvation. This is precisely the issue that the Apostle Paul addressed with the Corinthian believers because they lived in a culture that exalted human wisdom and reason. Like their Athenian counterparts, who Paul interacted with, as you recall, on Mars Hill, Acts 17, the philosophers of Corinth enjoyed arguing and debating novel thoughts. Why? Just for the sake of intellectual stimulation. That's what they did. They enjoyed it. But in his attempt to teach the Corinthian believers the foolishness of man's wisdom and the value of divine truth, Paul argues for how useless human wisdom really is and how God has revealed his wisdom through the message of the cross, a message that the world considers foolishness. And note this, the apostle says that God in His wisdom has revealed this perceived foolish message of the cross to the very people that the world considers foolish. Let me read this to you. 1 Corinthians 1, starting at verse 18. He said, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside. Paul asks, where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Now, what he's saying here is, where's the wise man? If he's so wise, why can't he tell you how to have salvation? Where is he? He can't tell you how to be right with God. God has made foolish the wisdom of this world, because it can't benefit you for eternity. He says, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God, notice this, the foolishness of God, is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, He says, look around at your church, Corinthians, and all of us can do this as well here, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong. And the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen the things that are not so that He might nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God, but by His doing you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So that, just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Listen, what the world considers wisdom is absolute nonsense to God. It's the vain reasonings and speculations of man that will never bring Him salvation. And what the world considers foolishness, namely the message of the cross, the message of salvation in Christ, that's God's wisdom. And He has demonstrated even more of His wisdom by revealing this message this message that is considered foolishness by the world to those who, for the most part, are looked down upon by the elites of this world, that's us, as foolish and weak and lowly by society's standards. So be encouraged, because even though those who consider themselves to be wise in this world, as they look down upon you as being ignorant and outdated and foolish for believing in Christ and being a Christian, take heart, because in reality, folks, you're wiser than they are, even if they don't know it. You're wiser than they are. Listen, I'm sure that the psalmist's enemies, his teachers, and the aged who were around him thought that they were so much smarter and wiser and more enlightened than this Bible-believing, God-fearing Jew from a defeated and humiliated nation, but they weren't. They were wrong. He knew he was wiser than these people because he had something they didn't have. He had an understanding of the Word of God. And this is what gave him, he tells us, a profound love for the Word. It made him wise. So the first reason that the psalmist gives for loving the Word, and we looked at this more in depth last week. I'm just reviewing and adding a little bit to it. The first reason that he gives for loving the Word is because it makes him wise. But as he continues writing, he gives us a second reason for why he loves the Word of God. It's because God's Word keeps him from sin. Notice verse 101, I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your Word. And what the psalmist is telling us in this statement is that his desire to keep God's Word restrained him from doing evil. It restrained him from doing evil. And for that, he says, I love it. I love the Word. See, when he says that I have restrained my feet from every evil way, he's acknowledging the fact that his feet could take him down all kinds of paths of evil behavior. But he chooses not to go down. those evil paths because he wants to obey the Word of God. In other words, it is his commitment to obey what God wants him to do that has kept him on the narrow path of righteous living. Now, this doesn't mean that his obedience was perfect, far from it. It doesn't mean that he no longer struggled with sin, far from it. In fact, if you look back at verse 5, he reveals that he did struggle with sin and that his obedience was far from perfect. But in spite of that, he longs to live consistently by the word of God. Look at verse five again. Oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. One doesn't pray that way if one thinks that all of his ways are keeping his statutes. This is the longing of his heart because he saw sin like all of us. And in verse 36 he actually reveals one particular temptation that apparently was very hard for him. It was the temptation to gain money dishonestly. It says in verse 36, "...incline my heart to your testimonies and not to dishonest gain." Apparently dishonest gain was a temptation that he faced. So, this man isn't saying that his understanding of God's Word and his desire to keep it, he's not saying it guaranteed that he always did what was right and that he never sinned. But what he is saying is that his pursuit of God's Word kept him from pursuing a great deal of evil. See, he knows that it's the Word of God that has kept him from a lot of sin and all of the terrible consequences that go with sinning. And for that, he says, he loves the Word, and so should you. If you've been truly converted, if you've become a true Christian, then you have a desire to obey God's Word. That's one of the marks of regeneration. You desire to obey the Word of God. So as one who's been converted and has been kept as a result of that from a great deal of sin, I want you to just consider how much sin you would be involved in in these days if you didn't know the Bible and you didn't have a desire to obey the Bible, if God had not saved you. Think about what, if you're married, what your marriage would be like without the Word of God. Think of that, how selfish you'd be. You might not be married, Think about what kind of a parent you would be without Scripture. What kind of a grandparent you would be. Think about your business ethics without the Word guiding you, guarding you. Think about your morality, your relationships with other people, your friendships, and on and on it goes. Listen, without an understanding of Scripture and a desire to obey it, we would be consumed with ourselves. obsessed with ourselves, which would lead to all kinds of expressions of wicked behavior, immorality, addictions, uncontrolled anger, unrestrained jealousies and resentments, lying, stealing, cheating, etc. When you think about what your life would be like without Scripture, it ought to give you a renewed love for the Word of God. It ought to give you a revived love for Scripture because Scripture has restrained you from living a self-centered life with disastrous consequences. Listen, this book, the Bible, it keeps us from a lot of sin. And the reason it does is because we know it's not just another book. We know it's God's book, His words to us, And as we read and study the Word, it is God we know who is speaking to us and teaching us so that we want to obey. We want to honor Him by doing what He wants. And as a result, we restrain our feet from evil. We don't divorce the Word from God Himself. It is His Word to us. So we restrain our feet from evil. That's exactly what the psalmist tells us motivated him. as he tells us that he restrained his feet from evil. Notice verse 102, I have not turned aside from your ordinances, for you yourself have taught me. The psalmist recognizes that what kept him going in his obedience, what helped him to restrain from doing evil, is the fact that through the scriptures, he says, God was teaching him, you have taught me. In other words, he realizes that although God has used men to write the Bible, the words of Scripture are God-breathed. They come from Him. And therefore, the Bible is God speaking to Him, God teaching Him, God impressing truth upon Him. Folks, the reason the Bible is so important and is the only thing that restrains us from living a life of flagrant sin is that it is indeed the Word of God. And therefore, it carries the authority of God. It's exactly the point that Paul makes in 2 Timothy 3.16 when he says, all scripture is inspired by God. It means God breathed out and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. It is only because the scriptures are the very words of God and not man that it is critical for us to follow them because it will tell us, teach us the right path to walk down. It is profitable for doctrine, teaching us the right path to walk down. It is profitable because it rebukes us when we get off the right path. It is profitable because it corrects us by getting us back on the right path. And it is profitable for instructing us to stay on the right path once we've gotten back on. So, love the Word. Ask God to give you a deepening love for the Word because it keeps you from all kinds of sin. The psalmist tells us he loves the Word because it made him wise and it kept him from sin. But as he draws this stanza to a close, he gives us a third reason for his love of Scripture. He loves the Word of God because it satisfies his soul like nothing else. He says in verse 103, how sweet are your words to my taste. Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Believing that the Bible is the word of God, this man is now telling us that he fed upon the word, he tasted the word, he meditated on the word, he absorbed and digested the word, and he found it to be totally satisfying and pleasant to his palate. In fact, it was so pleasant to him, it was so enjoyable to him that he compares it to the sweetest food available to him in his day, honey. He says that God's word was even sweeter than honey to his mouth. You may remember that King David had actually said that, said essentially the same thing. In Psalm 19, he said in verse 10, he said, sweeter also than honey in the drippings of the honeycomb. That's the word. Now let's think about what the psalmist is telling us, because most people view the Bible as a set of harsh, narrow rules to live by. And they're not, these rules, they feel, are not enjoyable at all. That's the world's perspective of the Bible. And many who do try to live by the Bible, find that their adherence to its commandments are more of a burden than anything else, just a binding obligation, certainly not something sweet, certainly not something enjoyable, certainly not something they delight in. But the psalmist said that God's Word completely satisfies his spiritual appetite. He said it delights his soul. He said it brings him pleasure. So how is this possible? How is this possible? Why does he find God's word so fulfilling, so satisfying, when others don't? And on a more personal level, how can it be satisfying to you? Well, this man tells us why he found the word so sweet, why he found it so satisfying. In the last verse of the stanza, he said, from your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. He tells us that that the Word of God satisfies him because from the Word he gets understanding. But understanding of what? Notice his last words, therefore I hate every false way. What he's telling us is that the Scriptures give him understanding, they give him insight, they give him discernment into what's right and what's wrong. And what the Bible reveals is wrong, what he refers to as every false way, he just hates. He hates it. Listen closely. What this man is telling us is that he enjoys the Word of God because he enjoys what God reveals in His Word to be holy and holy living. And consequently, then, he hates what God reveals in His Word to be false, unholy living. In other words, having found truth and godly living satisfying to his taste, he finds error and falsehood distasteful. See, the reason this man finds the Bible to be so sweet and satisfying to his spiritual appetite is because, first of all, he's regenerated. He has a converted heart that now loves the things of God. And this is where it all begins, so that divine truth is now sweet to his taste. Unlike the unsaved, unregenerate man who despises the things of God, this man loves holy things and godly living, and he has an appetite for more of it. And there's a reason that he has an appetite for more of Scripture that goes beyond the fact of being regenerated. Listen closely. It's because his life as a believer is characterized by obedience to the Word of God. His obedience gives him a craving for more of the Word. He's been telling us this throughout this stanza, that he meditates on the Word, he observes the Word, he desires the Word. See, if you're a believer in Christ, but you've lost your appetite for the Bible, it's because you've been feasting on the junk food of disobedience. You've not been obedient. Somebody said, this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book. Peter, in his first letter, chapter 2, talks about this very thing. He says, therefore, putting aside all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you've tasted the kindness of the Lord." Now, we often focus just on long for the pure milk of the Word, but don't divorce verse 2 from verse 1. He's saying if you want to long for the pure milk of the Word, then put aside the junk food of malice and deceit. and hypocrisy, and envy, and slander. You cannot be taking those things in and still have an appetite for the Word of God. So, he's really calling us to repent. Without personal obedience, you will never find the Word of God sweet. It won't be enjoyable. It won't be satisfying to you. But those who do enjoy the Word, and those who are satisfied by it, they love the Word because they have repented of sin. Listen, what else tastes as good as the Word of God? What else thrills your soul like hearing divine truth about Christ? Godly living, holy standards. If those things don't thrill you, then you have to repent of some evil in your life. What else is as thrilling to read about in Scripture, for example, as God being compassionate? God being merciful, God caring for the downtrodden, God loving justice, He's never partial, He can't take a bribe, He doesn't show favoritism. Those are tremendous truths that ought to be so satisfying and sweet to your taste. So, do you love the Word of God? It's as simple as that. Do you love it? You can, and you will. It starts with knowing Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior, because only Jesus can change your heart. Once your heart is changed, you do have a desire to obey the Word, and it's sweet to your taste. But if sin has gotten, if you do know Christ, and sin has gotten in the way, then I call you to repent of it, even as now we move into the Lord's Supper. Repent of sin. It may be that you no longer have the love for the Word that you once had. Maybe you're holding a grudge against somebody. Maybe there's a lack of forgiveness in your life. Maybe you've been deceitful about something. Maybe you've been lying. Maybe you've been stealing. Maybe you've been cheating. Whatever it is, repent. Forsake it now. Come to the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper... First of all, understand a few things about the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is for believers in Christ. If you don't know Jesus Christ, we're so glad that you're here, and we would urge you to come to Christ, to place your faith in Him for salvation. But the Lord's Supper is not for you. It's for those who have already trusted Christ. Secondly, the Lord's Supper is a time for us to examine ourselves, folks. Not to get morbidly introspective, but to ask the Lord to bring to mind any sins that need to be repented of, and then repent and confess them. and determine if you need to go to somebody and ask their forgiveness, that as soon as the service ends, you're going to do that. Third, the Lord's Supper is a time primarily to remember Christ, to remember His death for us. Even as the children of Israel, every year in the past, in fact, they still do this today, they celebrate the Passover, to remind them that once they were slaves, God brought them physically out of Egypt. Well, the Lord's Supper reminds us once we were slaves to sin, but Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross, freed us and gave us salvation. So I'll give you a few moments now to think about these things, to repent over anything you need to repent of, and then I'll let the men know it's time to hand out the elements.