Many years ago, Wesleyan Methodist minister Samuel Chadwick spoke about how special, how unique the Bible, the Word of God is. He said these words, there is no book like the Bible. It's a miracle of literature, a perennial spring of wisdom, a wonderful book of surprises, a revelation of mystery, an infallible guide of conduct, an unspeakable source of comfort. Samuel Chadwick was absolutely right. There is no book like the Bible, because there is no other book that God has authored and written. The Bible is the one and only infallible, inspired, inerrant Word of God, meaning that it is the only written revelation that God has inspired, which means He has breathed out, so that every single word from Genesis to Revelation comes from Him. He is the source of it all. And in order to make sure that his God-breathed word was accurately recorded, without any errors, without any mistakes, he supernaturally guided the prophets in the Old Testament era, and the apostles and other prophets in the New Testament era, so that they wrote down exactly what he breathed out. And that's why we read in 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 20 and 21, Peter says, but know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men, moved or guided or controlled by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God. And because, folks, this book is God's word to us, really as well as God's words to us, it is absolutely wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful because God is absolutely wonderful. And this is precisely the message of the man who wrote Psalm 119, what he conveyed to us, because he devotes an entire stanza of his psalm to telling us how wonderful indeed God's Word really is. I want to read these words to you again, Psalm 119, starting at verse 129, and think about the wonders of the Word as you're hearing what the psalmist has to say. He says, your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul observes them. The unfolding of your words It gives light, it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth wide and panted for I long for your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me after your manner with those who love your name. Establish my footsteps in your word and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man that I may keep. your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servants and teach me your statutes. My eyes shed streams of water because they do not keep your law." Now, as we noted last week, the psalmist begins this stanza, which by the way is the 17th stanza of this long psalm. by telling us that God's words are wonderful, His testimonies are wonderful, meaning that they are extraordinary, that they are marvelous, that they are special. Therefore, He responds with awe and amazement towards not only God, but towards His word which comes from Him. And the key to unlocking the message, the unique message and emphasis of this stanza is to realize that in the verses that follow this opening statement about God's Word being wonderful, the psalmist reveals to us why the Word is so wonderful. And he does this by giving us several very specific reasons for the Word being so great, so wonderful. And as we discovered last Sunday, These reasons are not deep, theologically hard to understand reasons, but they're very practical. They're very down-to-earth. They're easy to apply to our daily lives. The psalmist is being very practical and applicable. Now last week, we only had time to look at the first reason the psalmist gives as to why the Word of God is so wonderful. It's wonderful, he says, because it gives understanding. It gives us understanding. Verse 130, the unfolding of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. Now, we spent a considerable amount of time last Sunday not only looking at the meaning of this statement, but also applying its truths to our lives. The meaning of these words is simply that when the Word of God enters our minds, either by reading it, or hearing a message preached, or a lesson given, or someone else reading it, it gives us light, it gives us understanding about God and how He wants us to live. Listen, we know some amazing truths concerning God that we otherwise would never know without His Word, such as the origin of the universe. We understand how it all happened, not the scientific intricacies necessarily, but we understand that God spoke the worlds into existence. We understand why society is so messed up. We understand it's a world in rebellion towards God. We understand where society is headed. In the last days, it's going to get worse and worse, Paul said. We understand what will happen, at least to some degree, in the future. We have the book of Revelation given to us. We have the book of Daniel given to us. We understand how people can be forgiven of their sins and be right with God, and how their character can be transformed. Listen, these are truths that non-Christians do not know. Nor do they want to know. And the reason they don't know this kind of information and more is because, as the psalmist said, the Word will only give this kind of enlightenment, this kind of understanding to those, the psalmist said, are simple. And by simple, he doesn't mean those who are simple-minded. He's not talking about those who are mentally deficient. But as the Hebrew word indicates, it refers to those who are open-minded, to those who are open to receiving and obeying the truths of Scripture instead of being resistant to them. instead of being closed to them. And generally speaking, believers are those who are open-minded to the truths of Scripture, and unbelievers are closed-minded to them. Now last Sunday we spent the bulk of our time considering the issue of being open-minded to the Word of God, simply because sadly there are some Christians who are not open to the teachings of Scripture. I said generally Christians are open, but there are exceptions. And so there are some who are not open to the Word of God, be it a moral or ethical teaching or theological doctrine, such as the doctrine of God's sovereignty in election. But regardless of what Scripture teaches, every believer in Christ must be, no matter how hard it is, must be teachable. We must be open to submitting to all of the Word of God whether or not we feel like submitting to it, whether or not we understand it. Otherwise, what happens is we'll find our minds becoming closed to other truths, darkened to what we should know. When that happens, we will forfeit light and understanding that God intends for us to have. Listen, when you became a Christian, You lost the option of deciding how you would live your life. In coming to Jesus Christ for salvation, you surrendered to Him. You not only believed on Him, you surrendered to Him as Lord of your life. You became a slave to Christ. And in doing so, you essentially said yes to whatever the Word of God tells you to do, even before you know what the Word of God tells you to do. Therefore, you are now to live for him, not yourself. This is why Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 14, starting at verse 7. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself. For if we live, we live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ, for this purpose he means, Christ died. and lived again. Why did Jesus die and then rise again? Paul says that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Christ died and rose again so that he might be your Lord. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5 verses 14 and 15, for the love of Christ controls us. Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. Meaning, Christ died for us when we came to faith in him, we died to our old way of life. And he died for all, he means all believers. So that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. Paul said, you died to your old way of life. We no longer live for ourselves, but for him. So, we ought to be open to everything His Word says. And the evidence, when you are open to the Word of God, the evidence of all of this is that you hold back nothing. You hold back nothing. You have no reservations. You desire the Word of God like the psalmist desired it. How did he desire it? Verse 131, I opened my mouth wide and panted, he said, for I long for your commandments. Like a thirsty, dehydrated animal panting for some water just to survive. So the psalmist says, I opened my mouth too and I pant and I long for the Word of God. I can't get enough of it. Folks, this is the way It ought to be with every one of us, not just this man who lived many years ago. This man had such an intense longing for Scripture, to know it, to obey it, to submit to it, that frankly, he's consumed with it. I mean, that's what this whole psalm is about. He's consumed with the Word of God. He has such an appetite for Scripture that it won't go away. No matter how much he hears, he wants more. Let me put it in today's Today's language, if he were going to Lakeside, he'd be here on the Sunday night service because he couldn't get enough. So the question is, how then do we get an appetite like this for God's word, an appetite like he had? And of course, the answer, as we've already discovered, is that we have to be open to it. We have to be non-resistant to the word. And when we have this kind of submissive attitude, we long for scripture like we long for nothing else. It's the most important thing to us. But if you find yourself not desiring the word of God, if you find yourself in a place where you are indifferent to scripture, you once had an appetite for it, but now you're indifferent. There's no passion about the word. It doesn't simply indicate that you aren't open minded. It also indicates that there's some sin in your life that's causing you to lose your appetite for the Word of God. A believer doesn't just lose their appetite for Scripture. Something's going on in their life that causes this. Peter tells us about this, 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. He says, Therefore, putting aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. Peter says that the only way you will ever long for the word of God like a baby longs for its mother's milk is by putting aside sins, like the ones that he's mentioned, that would cause you to lose your appetite for Scripture. In other words, he's saying, get the junk food out of your life and then you'll long for the good food. The good food being the Word of God. The junk food being sin. The wrong attitudes. It was evangelist Dwight L. Moody who years ago said, this book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book. Absolutely right. So, examine yourself. You examine yourself to see if any of these sins or others are prevalent in your life. And if they are, then you have to repent. And repentance is more than saying, Lord, sorry, and then just continuing. It means that you change your attitude. It means also that you change your behavior. There must be the fruit of repentance to validate that it's true repentance. And what is the fruit of repentance? The fruit of repentance is that you abandon your sin, and you replace it with obedience. So why is the word of God so wonderful? Because the psalmist says it gives us understanding, so that we no longer walk in darkness like we once did. But as he continues writing the psalm, he gives us a second reason why the word is so wonderful. It's wonderful, he says, not only because it gives us understanding, but also because it reveals to us God's mercy, and that's what we need, God's mercy. Verse 132 says this, Turn to me and be gracious to me after your manner with those who love your name." Now with this statement, the psalmist is asking the Lord to turn to him. To turn to him and show him mercy like he does to all who love his name of the mercy the grace that he's asking for no doubt has to do with rescuing him from that terrible oppressive situation that he he finds himself in throughout this army told us about this he's being persecuted by men who hate him men who hate the Lord ungodly men who lie about him, and they were even threatening to murder him. And so he's asking the Lord to show him mercy in that kind of environment by intervening in his situation, delivering him. But as I pointed out to you last week in the verses before this, as one thinks about this and as one probes beneath the surface, we find that there's a lot more here than we might initially suspect. For example, the words, turn to me, These words tell us that God does indeed turn to us, that he sees us, and that he's not aloof. He's not disinterested in our well-being. He pays attention to us. Certainly, the psalmist prayed like this because he expected God to look upon him as an individual, to pay attention to him as a person. And he had every right to expect this, because the Bible says that God does see us, that he does take note of us, and that he does pay attention to us. For example, remember in the book of Exodus, when the Lord called Moses to go speak to Pharaoh, to say, let my people go, to bring the people out of Egypt. Here's what God told Moses. In Exodus 3, 7, the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. Notice, I have surely seen their affliction. I've given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. God is not aloof. God let it continue for a while, but he saw it, he heard it, he was aware of it. Prior to that, we read in the book of Genesis that Hagar, Sarah's maid in her distress when she had run away from Sarah after being harshly treated by her, she was given by God some promises, wonderful promises of many descendants who would come through her son Ishmael. And she responded to the Lord by calling him a God who sees. That's what she called God. You're a God who sees. You see my affliction. Reminded in Hebrews 4.13, that great statement, there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Now that can be a frightening thought that God sees everything because it means he sees us when we're sinning. Nothing is hidden from him. He knows all. He sees all. As you'll recall from our study of Psalm 139, David tells us that God knows what we will do even before we do it. God knows what we're thinking even before we think it. God knows what we'll say even before we say it. And if our thoughts and words and actions are rebellious towards Him, that can be terrifying, knowing that a holy God sees that. But in the case of the psalmist, we go back to Psalm 119, And in the case, really, of any believer in Christ who is suffering, the fact that God sees you, that's a comforting thought. It's intended to be. Because in asking the Lord to look upon him, the psalmist is thinking about God seeing him in his pain, in his suffering, in his predicament. That's what he's saying. And that's why he asked the Lord, notice, to look upon him with mercy, with grace. See, in essence, what this man is doing, he is appealing to God to show him kindness in his distress. And what this tells us is that God does care about his suffering child. And he does pay attention to the pain and suffering that we experience. It's a very common thing, and if you've been a believer for a while, you know this. You've experienced this. It's a very common thing for our enemy, the devil. to whisper to you in your pain, especially, that God just doesn't care about you. That He's got more important things to do than pay attention to you and be interested in you. After all, He's running the universe. But that is a lie. Yes, it's true that God is running the universe, but He is not so busy that He's not interested in you. God does care about you. And He never stops being interested in any of His children no matter how much you are suffering, no matter how bleak your circumstances are, or how much you have sinned against Him. Listen to these great words by Jesus in Matthew chapter 10, starting in verse 29. Jesus said to His disciples, Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear, you're more valuable than many sparrows. Now I want you to know Jesus in saying this, he's not simply saying that God knows about the death of birds. Of course God knows about the death of birds. That's not the point that Jesus is making. God knows about everything. The point our Lord is making Is that not only does God the Father know about the death of some insignificant birds, but he is sovereignly in control of their circumstances and the timing of their deaths. All of those details, God is in control of. And the same is true of you. He is sovereignly in control of all of the details of your life, Jesus said, even to the point that the number of hairs on your head are determined and controlled by Him. Because you, as a child of God through faith in Christ, are more valuable to Him than some birds. Birds are mere creatures that He created. But He didn't simply create us. We're His children through the redeemed blood of Christ, the redeeming blood of Christ. Listen, you are not simply a statistic to the Lord, an impersonal member of the body of Christ, a faceless individual who in eternity past was elected to salvation along with millions of other faceless individuals who now form his faceless church. No, that's not the way it is at all. You aren't nameless or faceless to the Lord. Everything about your relationship with Him is personal and individual because He personally cares about you as an individual, as someone He loves and as someone He is interested in. Notice, if we go back to Psalm 119, notice how the psalmist recognizes God's interest in him. This is why he's praying this way. He sees God's interest in him personally, not in a broad general sense. He says, turn, notice, to me. Turn to me, Lord, and be gracious to me as an individual. Not simply collectively to Israel, but to me. Listen, the Bible makes it very clear that God's love for each of his children, it's very personal, it's very specific. It isn't simply for God so loved the world. It's God so loved individuals. who he called out of the world. Paul says in Galatians 2 20, we often look at this as the sort of exchange life, but I want you to see something else. He says, I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live. It's Galatians 2.20. But Christ lives in me in the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God. Notice what Paul said, who loved me and gave himself up for me. He didn't say for a whole lot of people, for the elect, for the church. All that's true. But for me, Paul said, and that's what you have to think of. It's for you. So the psalmist has appealed to God to turn his attention upon him, show him mercy. Here's the question that we have to step back and ask. What does this have to do with how wonderful the Word of God is? I mean, that's the context. After all, the psalmist has just told us that God's testimonies are wonderful, he said, and then he immediately tells us one of the wonders of the Word is to give light and understanding to those who are open to it. What does God's mercy and grace have to do with his word being wonderful? Listen carefully. Although the psalmist does not mention in this verse, verse 132, he does not mention directly the word of God, we know that the primary way that God shows his mercy to us is by his word. In other words, the words of Scripture, it's in those words where we find truths to help us in our suffering. And in that way, God is merciful to us. By helping us, by strengthening us, by comforting us, by encouraging us. Certainly seems to be what the psalmist has in mind, because notice what he says in the second half of verse 132. He says, after the manner of those who love your name. In other words, he expects God to be merciful to him. not in a unique way, but in the same way, same manner, that He's merciful to all those who love His name, meaning to all true believers. And the way that God bestows upon us His mercy, the manner that He does this, it's by telling us truths in His Word that give us strength and hope and encouragement when we're going through a rough time. That's how God shows mercy. So, when you read in Scripture words Like Romans 8.28, all things work together for good to those who love God. That ought to strengthen you. That's God's mercy to you. You read words, for example, in Romans 8.31, if God be for us, who can be against us? That's God's mercy to you, to strengthen you and encourage you. You read words like in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Paul was told by God, my grace is sufficient for you. That's God's mercy to you, to strengthen and encourage you. And there are others, other verses, where God tells us he's with us, where God tells us he's our helper, where God tells us he'll not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to handle. That's God's mercy to you. And it all comes from his word. See, the point of what the psalmist is telling us is that the word of God It's incredible. It's wonderful because it is only in the Word where you will find God's mercy revealed. This is certainly the case when it came to our salvation, right? It certainly, as we look back at our lives, it's because it's only by the Word of God that we found out how to come to Christ. It's only by the Word that we even knew how sinful we were, and how holy God is, and therefore how He must punish sin, and it's only by the Word of God that we learn that the only place to find mercy from God's wrath is under the shelter of Jesus Christ, because Christ died in the place of sinners, enduring the wrath of God the Father as their substitute, so that we could be saved. This is the mercy of God. And you only knew about that, and can only know about that, from His Word. And then after you became a Christian, His Word You saw as you opened and read your Bible, it's filled with truths of mercy that strengthen you when you're feeling weak, that encourage you when you're down, that stabilize you when you are unsteady. Words that give you courage and peace when you're frightened and worried. Folks, this is why the Word of God is so wonderful. Because in it are truths that show us God's mercy. And as believers, note this, these words of mercy give us hope. Hope that no one else in the world has. I hope you realize this. Nobody else has our hope. In fact, without the Word, there is no hope. Consider how Paul characterizes all non-Christians as completely hopeless. He said in Ephesians 2.12, Remember that you were at that time, meaning before you came to faith, you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Hopeless. Hopeless. And then we all love First Thessalonians 4.13. This is especially applicable to those who have recently lost loved ones who know Christ and are now with Christ. And you'll see them again. This is our hope. Paul said, but we don't want you to be uninformed, brethren. And once again, let me just stop and say, this is God's mercy. Where God, through Paul, is saying, we don't want you to be uninformed. This is the mercy of God telling you this truth. We don't want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep. He means those who have died, believers who have died, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. The rest are all unsaved, who have no hope. It is only the mercy of God that gives us hope when a believing loved one dies, because we know that they're with the Lord, and we know that we'll see them again. Imagine the horrors of facing death without any hope. I can't think of anything worse. But every Christian does have hope. And it's God's mercy to you that you have that hope because His Word tells you these truths. The only reason you know about this hope is because you've read it in the Bible. And that's why the Word of God is so wonderful because it's the means by which God communicates truths that help us face any and every situation in life. This is His mercy to us. So praise Him for it. Thank Him for it. And by all means, get into the Word because of this and pant for it. Now, so far, the psalmist then has told us two reasons why the Word of God is so wonderful. It's wonderful because it gives us understanding. It's wonderful because it reveals to us God's mercy. But as The psalmist continues writing this stanza. He gives us still one more reason why the word of God is so wonderful. He tells us it's wonderful because it directs us, guides us to live godly. Verse 133, establish my footsteps in your word and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man that I may keep your precepts. And it's important that we see both of these verses together. Because otherwise, I don't think we could get a sense of what the psalmist is actually telling us about the word of God. He asked the Lord to begin with, he asked the Lord to establish. What does that mean? To establish means to stand firm, to be fixed, to help him be fixed and stand firm in his word. In other words, he wants the daily course and conduct of his life to be directed by the word of God. I want you to know, though, that this is not a prayer for daily guidance in a general way. It's not wrong to pray that way, but that's not what he's doing. He's not asking the Lord to guide and direct him in a most general, broad sweep of things. He's not asking the Lord to guide him so that he might know, for example, who he should marry, or where to live, or what kind of job he should take, what school he should go to. He's not praying for that. Now this is a prayer that God would direct his steps, note this, so that he would have victory over sin. Victory over sin that threatens to dominate him, to overcome him. This is why he immediately says, and do not let iniquity have dominion over me. See this man wants his life so grounded. in the Word of God that sin doesn't rule over him. He wants to live a godly life and he knows that the only place that will tell him how to live a godly life so that sin doesn't dominate him is the Word of God. But there's more. I want you to notice what he asked the Lord to do for him in verse 134. He says, redeem me from the oppression of man that I may keep your precepts. Now when we put this verse together with the last verse, we see that what the psalmist is really saying is this, apparently the oppressive situation that he was in, with persecutors hating him, spreading lies about him, and holding over him the fact that they had the authority to kill him at any moment, it made it difficult, it made it challenging and hard for him to obey God. Now we don't know the exact location where he was, we don't know the exact situation or set of circumstances that he was in, but apparently all of this made obedience to God very difficult for him and very challenging. Maybe they were watching him day and night, we don't know. But we know it was hard, and that's why he's asking the Lord to redeem him. By that, he means rescue him, deliver him from these oppressive men. But notice, the reason he wants to be rescued isn't to relieve his personal pain. That's not why, but so that he can keep God's Word, so that he's free to obey. Now, folks, here's the point that the psalmist is making. One of the wonders and glories of the Word of God is that it gives us direction. It guides us in our life so that we know how to please and obey God rather than be dominated by sin. Certainly is not new to us. This is not a new concept. This man wrote about it earlier in his psalm. In verse 9, he said, how can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. He said in verse 11, your word have I treasured in my heart that I might not sin against you. We also know, and we've noted in times past, in fact many times, that the Bible makes it clear that it is God's Word that trains us, instructs us in righteous living. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Now let me tell you why this is so very applicable to us, especially in the day and age that we live in. There are many Christians today who believe that the Bible is given in order to serve them, by making life a little easier for them. They tend to go to churches where pastors give sermons filled with lots of practical suggestions, not much doctrine, but practical suggestions designed to help them just get through the week. So they cultivate this belief that scripture is really about attending to their needs and their desires. It's really all about them. So they tend then to look at the Bible as merely an instruction manual on making life as stress-free for them as possible. The world revolves around them, as does the Bible. That wasn't the psalmist's perspective, nor is it the perspective of any true man or woman of God. See, the psalmist's perspective was that he looked upon God's Word for direction on how to live a life that was pleasing to the Lord. How to live in victory over sin. It wasn't about him. It was about honoring and glorifying God. He's not mentioning about, I want to get out of this situation because I'm in so much pain. He wants to get out of this so he's free to obey the word. His motivation for wanting deliverance from his oppressive situation is to free him, as I said, to keep the word of God without these men hindering him. You know why God's Word is so precious? Why it's so wonderful? Because it's in His Word that He reveals to us how to live in such a way that pleases Him. How to live a kind of life where sin does not dominate you. You'll not get that in a self-help book. You'll not get that from a psychiatrist. You'll only get it in the Word of God. This is why our upcoming studies on Sunday nights in Ephesians They're going to be very, very important. That's why I said the psalmist would be here if he lived here. They're going to be very important because we have reached a point in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapters 4 through 6, where Paul gets very practical in his instruction on how to live godly in an ungodly world, an ungodly society. For example, in verse 17, which is sort of the springboard into all of this, He says, so this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you no longer walk just as the Gentiles, meaning the pagans, also walk in the futility of their mind. Don't walk like you used to walk. Don't walk like the wicked Ephesian society you live in still walks. It was a very wicked place. And he's going to go on to address some very specific sin issues that we are not to walk in. Sins that tend to dominate us. For example, our speech, how we speak to others. There's not one Christian who has it all together when it comes to that. There's not one Christian who doesn't regret at times what he or she has said to somebody. So Paul writes in verse 29 of Ephesians 4, Listen, we need to hear this. We need this guidance to know how to speak. You don't tear down people, you build up. How about anger and bitterness? Not one Christian here can say, I've never been angry, I've never been bitter. We need direction from the word about how God wants us to live. And so he gives it to us in verses 30 through 32. Paul says, don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. How can we grieve him? Well, he goes on to tell us, We grieve Him when we let bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander control us. He says, put it all away, along with all malice, and in its place. Here's the guidance of the Word of God. Here's why God's Word is so wonderful. Here's what you do. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. That's why the Word is wonderful. We want to be bitter. God says, no, I'll give you grace to be forgiving. Then he'll go on, Paul will, to speak about the important issues dealing with our moral purity, Ephesians 5, 3. But immorality or any, notice, any impurity or greed, not just the big sins, but any immorality, impurity or greed, must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. There ought to be no immorality. How about married life? You have a struggle there, every believer does. Disney lied to us. Nobody lives happily ever after all the time. Everybody has problems. But it's the Word of God that gives you direction on how to live as a godly husband and godly wife. I mean, there's much in the Bible, but We read in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22, Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. Can you trust the Lord to work through this very fallible man? That's why Paul says, as to the Lord. If you submit to your husband, you are submitting to the Lord. If you don't submit to your husband, you're not submitting to the Lord. How would we know this apart from the word of God? He says in verse 25, Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her. It's about sacrifice. It's not a 50-50 deal. It's a 100% deal. Unconditional love. That's the way Christ loves the church. How would we know this? But by the Word of God. And then family life. All of us have struggles in family life. All of us have issues with children. Children have issues with parents. But thus we read, as Paul goes on in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1, he says, Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, which tells us, by the way, that the Ten Commandments are for us today. He says, Honor your parents. And then he goes on to say, in verse 4, what an important statement this is on child raising. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. Don't take the wind out of their sails. Don't exasperate them. Listen, we've all done that at times. Don't do this, Paul says, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. How would we know this? But by the Word of God. And then what about something very practical about being a good employee and employer, though Paul uses the words slaves and masters. We don't have that today, but the principle is employment. He goes on in chapter 6, verse 5, And on, he says, slaves, so put in employees, be obedient to those who are your masters, put in employers, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ. In other words, serve your employer like you're serving the Lord, whatever you do. He says, not by way of eye service, as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Don't just obey when they're watching you. But obey when they're not watching you. Verse 7, with good will, render service as to the Lord, not to men. Whatever your job is, do it for the Lord. How would we know this? But by the word. He says in verse 8, knowing that whatever good things each one does, he'll receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. And then, employers, he says, and masters, do the same things to them and give up threatening. knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with him. Treat your employee right. How would we know that? Except scripture. Finally, in the closing verses of Ephesians, we read about how to engage in warfare with our enemy, Satan, who wants to defeat you, so that sin does dominate your life and you become ineffective. Listen, we wouldn't know this apart from right here, Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 through 12. Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you'll be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle. And we wouldn't know this unless Scripture told us our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's not really people who we're fighting, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness. He means demons and Satan. against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Listen, without the Word of God, we wouldn't have any of this. Absolutely no direction in our lives as to how to live godly in a way that's pleasing to the Lord. So, you and I should be so grateful to the Lord for Scripture, so grateful that He's given us His Word, because it is Scripture that tells us how to walk through this morally filthy and corrupt world without letting it corrupt us. Now, having given us these three reasons why the Word of God is so wonderful, the psalmist draws to a close this stanza by making a contrast. He makes a contrast between his attitude towards Scripture and the attitude of those who are the enemies of God towards Scripture. He says in verses 135 and 136, Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes. My eyes shed streams of water because they do not keep your law. First of all, he asked the Lord to shine his face upon him. What does that mean? Well, it's simply another way of saying, smile upon me with your blessings of grace and mercy. And the blessing he's asking God to bestow upon him, he tells us, is teach me your word. I want to know more of your word. Your word is so wonderful, Lord, I just can't get enough of it. I want to know it more and more and better and better. So smile upon me so that I can learn. Even in my oppressive situation, I can learn more. I hope that's your attitude. I hope that you are never content with what you know about the Bible, because you shouldn't be. I hope you're always asking the Lord to teach you more and more of His fabulous Word, because this is the way it should be for every believer. It's not the case, though, with unbelievers. They don't care what the Bible says, and they're not going to keep God's Word. And because of that, notice, the psalmist says that he weeps for them. He says, my eyes shed streams of water. What he means by this is that tears run down his face when he considers how men disregard God's wonderful Word. Now, why would he cry about this? Well, I think there are two reasons. Number one, because it dishonors the Lord. And anything that dishonors Him should make us sad. It made Him sad, it should make us sad. But I think we tend to overlook the second reason why he was crying, because it brings such unnecessary misery to those who reject the Word of God. Misery both now and for all of eternity. And that, that misery that unbelievers have in not knowing the Lord, that ought to bring immense sadness to our hearts. This is an important issue. It's a very relevant one because so often today, Christians tend to react with anger, even malice, towards those who blatantly disregard the Bible. In fact, sometimes we have a reputation with the unsaved of being hostile and fighting. That's all they see of us. We're just angry at them because they don't have our standards of morality. They don't see things the way we see it. Anger, hostility, fighting, that should never be coming from us. The psalmist wept over those who didn't keep God's law. He didn't have an ongoing battle with them. He wept over them. And that's not an isolated incident in scripture. Our Lord, who's the perfect example in all things, wept, we read in Luke 19, over the city of Jerusalem because of the coming judgment upon them. How often he said, I would have just taken you and brought you to myself, but you would not. He wept over them, wept over lost people who soon would experience judgment and then be ushered into eternity. Paul tells us in Romans 9 that he had great sorrow and unceasing grief in his heart over the lostness of Israel. In fact, his sorrow was so deep, he said, if it were possible, I would experience hell forever for Israel. Tears for the lost, if not physical, certainly inwardly. That should be our experience too. Because as someone has said, tears show compassion. And compassion wins others far more effectively than belligerent arguments. Certainly more effectively than anger. Listen, you ought to weep. You ought to be sad for the unbelief of others. Why? Out of compassion. out of compassion, because their unbelief has caused them so much unnecessary pain. Life is painful just because we're human beings, but when we reject the Lord, we bring so much pain unnecessarily on ourselves. Their disobedience has brought them so much suffering. How sad that they don't know how wonderful God is, how wonderful His Word is. But you do. You know it's wonderful because you know that it gives you understanding. You know it's wonderful because it reveals to you God's mercy. You know it's wonderful because it directs you to live godly. So obey it, pant for it, learn more about it, and weep for those who do not keep it. If you are still in the category of those who don't keep the Word, those who disregard scripture, then my heart does go out to you. It goes out to you because you have needlessly suffered so much in life, and you will continue, if you don't repent and believe in Christ, you will continue to suffer even more in death. The only way to avoid the judgment of God is to turn to Christ, turn away from your sin of self-centeredness, Turn to Christ and receive His mercy and salvation. Christ died for sinners just like you. And He invites you to turn from your sin and come to Him and believe on Him. Trust Him alone to rescue you. from the penalty of your sin, which is eternal death. I urge you to do that. Some here are even weeping in their hearts right now for you to do that. Turn and believe. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, it is so precious. It's easy for us to take it for granted. As we said last week, we have so many copies of the Bible that we take it for granted. We're in a church that teaches the Bible. We're in a country that we can hear the Bible taught on radio, television, books galore, and blogs, and all kinds of things, Lord. But help us in our familiarity not to grow cold to the Word, not to grow distant from it, Lord. Put in our hearts to pant after the word. Bring to our minds anything we need to repent of, any sin we need to turn away from, or Lord, any attitude we might have of resistance to your word because we don't like what it says, or we can't understand it. Lord, I pray that you would help us to all as believers to be open-minded to the word of God. And Lord, we would pray, too, for those who don't keep your word, that there'll be no one here who deceives themselves into thinking they're Christians when they're not, when they have no interest in the Bible. Obedience is not pressing upon them. They really don't care. I pray you would convict them of sin, their need for Christ. Show them that the only way to be saved from the wrath to come is by fleeing to Christ and believing on Him and His death for them. All of this, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.