As we come to worship the Lord this morning, would you please take your Bibles and open with me to Psalm 119. Psalm 119. This will be both our call to worship and our public scripture reading. And as we come to the end of our journey through this psalm of Bible delight, we find ourselves today in the 22nd stanza of this psalm. That would be verses 169 through 176. Psalm 119. 169 through 176. And as we have journeyed through this psalm, we've seen that the psalmist, the model believer, we've seen him confess his love for both his God and for the word of his God and the dependence that he has on both. And we've heard his testimony of being a stranger in a strange land, of enduring many afflictions, of persecutions by evil men and wicked rulers. But we've also seen how God's word has been to him a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path, how the Bible has been a support for his soul in the hour of affliction. And we've seen the psalmist cast himself upon the mercy of God, pleading the promises of God that are contained within God's word back to him in his hour of need. Despite his many afflictions, by God's grace the psalmist has remained steadfast in his love for God and in his love for the Word of God. As we approach this final stanza, what we see today is really a summary of the many excellencies ascribed to God's Word by the psalmist in all of the previous stanzas. This 22nd stanza can be considered, I think, an executive summary of Psalm 119, each verse giving us a glimpse into how God works grace in the life of his children through his word and through his spirit. The stanza really stands out as a testimony to God's all-sufficient word. And before we read it together, I'd like to look quickly at each verse and highlight eight effects that the all-sufficient Word of God has on the people of God. First, in verse 169, the Word of God provides us with understanding. Here, the psalmist, once again, he is crying to the Lord, he's asking Him for understanding, for insight, for wisdom, according to His Word. And if we were to contrast this with what the world would tell us, the academics telling us that wisdom is to be found in the institutions of higher learning, the mystics that tell us that wisdom is to be found by looking inward and within ourselves, or the philosophers who tell us that wisdom is to be found through human reasoning, we see that there's a great divide between these two approaches. And we know, as God's children, that true wisdom, true understanding, it's found in the Word of God. As David says elsewhere in Psalm 19, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The Word of God provides us with understanding. Second, in verse 170, the word of God gives us hope in times of difficulty. And the psalmist here is pleading with God to deliver him according to his word. His hope for deliverance is in God's word. Now, We've talked about this last week when we were looking at Galatians 3. There's nothing wrong with having hopes that are not explicitly given to us in God's word, given that they're not sinful hopes. But our only sure hope, especially in times of difficulty and suffering, is in those things that God has laid down positively for us in his word. Hope that we're being shaped more into the likeness of Christ. hope that Christ will never cast us out having received us, and hope that at his second coming we'll be made like him and brought safely into his heavenly kingdom. The word of God tells us of these things, it assures us of these things, and therefore it gives us hope in times of difficulty. Third, in verse 171, the word of God causes us to praise God. The psalmist declares here that his lips will pour forth praise because God has taught him his statutes. Friends, when the Spirit of God applies the Word of God to our hearts, we also cannot help but praise the Lord. When we grasp, by God's grace, something, even if it is a slight something, of the undeserved, unearned, unconditional, steadfast love and mercy towards us in Christ, we cannot help but praise God. The Word of God causes us to praise God. Fourth, in verse 172, the Word of God leads us to speak God's truth to others. Here the psalmist is so overwhelmed by the rightness, the goodness, the righteousness of God's commandments that he cannot contain himself. He must testify of God's truth to others. He must tell others where he has found life and deliverance. And some translations say here, my tongue will sing of your word. This isn't a quiet mumbling of God's word under our breath. This is a loud and unashamed proclamation of God's truth. My tongue will sing of your word for all your commandments are right. The word of God leads us to speak God's truth to others. Fifth, in verse 173, the word of God helps us in times of need. The psalmist makes another request of God here in this verse. He says, let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. God dispenses his grace through means. He gives grace through various instruments. And we speak often in this church of the ordinary means of grace. We've all heard that term, the ordinary means of grace. Those ordinary channels through which God pours out his spiritual blessings upon his children. And the Word of God is one of those channels of grace. It's a primary mechanism through which God helps us as his children. When we need grace and patience to navigate a conflict, that's given to us in the Word of God by the Spirit of God. When we need help in resisting the temptation of a besetting sin, that help is given to us in the Word of God by the Spirit of God. When we need wisdom and discernment to make good decisions, that wisdom is given to us in the Word of God through the Spirit of God. In short, when we need help, when we need help with anything, God's hand is ready to help us through His Word applied to our hearts through the power of His Holy Spirit. The Word of God helps us in times of need. Sixth, In verse 174, the word of God brings salvation to us as needy sinners. Now, the psalmist makes a natural connection here in this verse. Firstly, he longs for salvation from the Lord, but then what does he do? He also delights in the means of that salvation. He delights in the law of God, in the scriptures, in the sacred writings, which are able to do what? They're able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every human being that has ever been born can look around at the created world, at the wonderful works of God's creative hand, and see plainly that there is a God in heaven. Nobody can deny that. However, as magnificent as creation is, It can only condemn sinners. Creation cannot save sinners. Creation itself cannot tell a sinner that the God who made everything that they see when they look outside and they look up into the stars of the heavens, creation cannot tell a sinner that that same God has a son named Jesus Christ. Creation cannot testify to sinners of the perfect life of Christ, of the substitutionary death of Christ, of the victorious resurrection of Christ. Creation cannot call the lost to turn from their sins and turn to Christ by faith alone. the message of salvation that the psalmist longs for here. It is only revealed to lost mankind in God's holy word. The word of God brings salvation to us as needy sinners. Seventh, in verse 175, the word of God injects life and praise into our souls. Fittingly, after expressing his delight, in the Word of God, which brings salvation. The psalmist now says, let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. The soul that has been saved through the Word of God is the soul that has life, and the soul that has life is the soul that praises God, and the soul that praises God does so according to the Word of God. God's rules, His judgments, as it's translated some places, His Word. It helps us to praise Him. And I'm not speaking simply of the setting forth of the formal elements of public worship for the gathered church, although it does that. But God's rules also help us praise him by being a lamp to our feet and a light to our path in our day-to-day living. God's word shows us how to live for his glory. It summons us to abandon our sinful love for the material things of this world and instead to seek after him. The word of God beckons us to put to death by his spirit the deeds of the flesh. It calls us to put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil. It gives us life. The Word of God, it injects life. It injects praise into our souls. Eighth and finally, in verse 176, the Word of God brings us back to him when we go astray. Now, as I was reading this stanza, it stood out to me. This is kind of a strange way to end this psalm. It's kind of strange. Lord, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. After expressing his love for God and for God's word for the previous 175 verses, I was a little bit taken off guard here as the psalmist confesses that he's gone astray from the Lord. But the words of that old hymn are true for the psalmist just as they're true for you and for me. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. And yet despite his wandering, he has not forgotten the commandments of the Lord. He's not forgotten the word of God, and it's the word of God that the Lord uses to seek his children when they wander astray. One commentator put it this way. Though a wanderer from the fold, I do not forget thy commandments. Nothing can erase thy law, which was written in my mind and inward parts by the finger and spirit of God as an earnest of my adoption, as the pledge of my restoration. What man writes is easily blotted out. What God writes is indelible. Let me then lie humbled and self-abased, but let me not forget my claim, what has been done for me. Thus again, I hope to be received as a dear and pleasant child, again to be clothed with the best robe, to be welcomed with fresh tokens of my father's everlasting love, and to be assured with the precious promise, my sheep shall never perish and none shall pluck them out of my hand. The Word of God brings us back to Him when we go astray. Thanks be to God for the wonderful gift of His Holy Word. If you are able, please stand as we read God's Word together. Psalm 119, verses 169 through 176. Hear the Word of God. Let my cry come before you, O Lord. Give me understanding according to your word. Let my plea come before you. Deliver me according to your word. My lips will pour forth praise for you. Teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word for all your commandments are right. Let your hand be ready to help me for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. Amen. May God bless the reading of his holy, infallible, and all-sufficient word. Let us pray. Father, we ask that you would meet with us now, not because we have earned your presence in this place, but because, if we can say it this way, Christ has earned it for us. Would you meet with us for his sake? Pour out your spirit upon us. We do pray that we would worship you in spirit and in truth this morning, that you would be glorified in all that takes place. In Jesus' name, amen.