One of the most exciting things about being a Christian is learning how much God has given us in Jesus Christ. Not only does He bestow upon us salvation as a gift, a free gift, that's a redundant statement, but it presses home the truth. It's a free gift, but along with salvation comes so many incredible blessings in the form of gifts. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, Paul tells us that God the Father has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ. And then he proceeds to mention just some of them. He goes on to speak of the blessing of election, that in eternity past, God the Father chose us to believe. He speaks of the blessing of being adopted into God's family. He speaks of the blessing of redemption, the blessing of the forgiveness of our sins. All of these are gifts that come from a kind and benevolent and compassionate and good God. Later in Ephesians 2, Paul will reveal that not only is our salvation a gift from God, but even the faith to believe in Christ is God's gift to us. And still later in Ephesians 4, Paul will explain that God has given to the church certain men as leaders in order to equip and mature us in our faith. They're gifts to the church. And he's also given, Paul says, each believer a unique set of spiritual gifts, which are God-given abilities, supernatural abilities to serve the Lord effectively. Now, these are just some of the many spiritual blessings that God has given us, his gifts in Christ. It's also true, though, that we have not only spiritual gifts, we also have material, physical gifts. that come from God. In fact, everything we have comes from Him, without any exceptions. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4, 7, for who regards you as superior, he says to the Corinthians, obviously they regarded themselves as superior. They thought they were better than others. Paul says, what do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? How can you be arrogant, Paul is saying, when everything you have comes to you from God? Everything. Folks, life is a gift. The air we breathe, it's a gift. Your spouse, your children, they're gifts. Your ability, skill to work is a gift. Any money you have, that's a gift from God. Everything you possess comes from God as a gracious gift. And all of these gifts should naturally evoke from us a response of praise and thanks and gratitude to God. But there is one gift, one gift from God that we might not be so quick to thank him for, but we should because it's also a great blessing. The gift that I'm referring to is the gift of suffering. Suffering is presented in Scripture as a gift to us. In Philippians chapter 1, verse 29, Paul writes, For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Paul says that God has not only granted us faith to believe in Christ, to believe the gospel for our salvation, but he's also bestowed upon us the privilege of suffering for Jesus Christ. And by suffering, Paul's not talking about suffering in general. He's talking about suffering that comes from being persecuted for our faith. This isn't the only place in the New Testament where we read that being mistreated for the sake of Christ is a great blessing. It's not an isolated text. And even if it was, it would be valid. But other places speak of this. For example, in Matthew 5, verses 10 and 11, we read, Jesus said, blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He said it was a blessing. It's a blessing to be persecuted. He went on to say, blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. It is a blessing to be persecuted for Christ. And then we read that wonderful story in Acts chapter 5 when the apostles had been preaching Jesus and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leading council, had forbid them, but they went on because they have to obey God rather than men. They had them arrested. They weren't sure what to do with them. A rabbi by the name of Gamaliel spoke and said, and I'm paraphrasing, leave them alone. If this be of God, you can't stop it anyway. So, we pick up the story in Acts 5, starting at verse 40. They took his advice, and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them. They whipped them. They scourged them. And then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and then release them. But listen to this. So they went on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing. Why did they rejoice? Rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. As someone so aptly put it, he said the apostles counted it an honor to be dishonored for Christ and a grace to be disgraced for him. Now, you may never have considered suffering to be a blessing. You may never have considered suffering from persecution to be one of God's wonderful gifts to you, but it is. And there's a reason that he sends some persecution from time to time our way. It's because, note this, there are so many benefits that come to us from being persecuted. See, regardless of what form your persecution takes, whether it be a physical assault or perhaps a verbal attack, or maybe it's a rejection socially from somebody, that's very painful. Maybe it's a lack of advancement in your field. Maybe it's an insult. Maybe it's a lie about you. Whatever it is, no matter what kind of persecution you experience, you will be the beneficiary of some great blessings. God sends these persecutions into our lives for our spiritual profit, our spiritual benefit. And this morning, we're going to discover what some of those benefits are, because we have come in our study of Psalm 119 to a section in which the psalmist reveals how he personally benefited from being persecuted. And therefore, note this, his purpose then in writing about this is to teach us, to teach us how this type of suffering benefits us. He didn't write for his sake, he wrote for our sake, to teach us. I want to read to you verses 161 to 168 again. Keep in mind, he's talking about his personal benefits from suffering, from being persecuted. He says, princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words. I rejoice at your word as one who finds great spoil. I hate and despise falsehood, but I love your law. Seven times a day I praise you because of your righteous ordinances. Those who love your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble. I hope for your salvation, O Lord, and do your commandments. My soul keeps your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep your precepts and your testimonies, for all my ways are before you." Now, while it may not be obvious at first, this stanza is different than most of the other stanzas in Psalm 119. What makes this stanza so distinct and different, unique, is that it contains, notice, no prayer requests. There are no prayer requests, no petitions to God in this series of verses. In fact, there's only one other stanza in all of Psalm 119 that's like this. What makes this so striking and really attention-grabbing is that the next stanza, which is the last one in the psalm, finishes with a flurry of prayer requests made to God. If you notice, look at verse 169. He says in the last part of it, give me understanding according to your word. There's a prayer request. The end of verse 170, deliver me according to your word. Verse 173, let your hand be ready to help me. Verse 175, let my soul live that it may praise you. Let your ordinances help me. That's a request. 176, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant for I do not forget your commandments. All of those are prayer requests. They're petitions. So it's very striking that the stanza before it has none. Now, in addition to being unique because there are no petitions made to God in the stanza, it is special also, unique, because it is the final time in this psalm that this man will bring up directly, at least, that he is being persecuted. He starts off that way. Notice in verse 161, princes persecute me without cause. And the reason this final mention of persecution is so significant is because it tells us that even as he's about to bring this psalm to a close, and as you know, it's been a long psalm, his circumstances have not changed. They're still bad. Nothing has really changed from the very beginning. And the reason he brings up his persecution from these princes is that he uses this as a springboard to tell us how he has personally profited from all the hostility and the oppression he's endured at the hands of these men. In other words, he wants us to know that his sufferings have not been in vain because God has used it to bless him and to benefit him greatly. See, as this man has made it so abundantly clear to us throughout this psalm, he has been persecuted by these evil men because of his faith. because of his devotion to the Word of God. This is why we keep hearing him say such phrases to the Lord as, I will not, I won't forsake your word, I won't forget your law, yet I do not turn aside from your testimonies. Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet your commandments are my delight. No matter what these men did to him in oppressing him, in trying to persuade him to believe in their pagan religion, he would not budge. He's been persecuted for his faith. So here's a man who's determined not to abandon his faith in the God of Israel and his word, the Holy Scriptures. But after telling us how much he has suffered for his faith, and as I've told you before, he's been lied about, he's been pressured to embrace pagan idolatry, he's been threatened with his life, He doesn't want to end this psalm without telling us how much his own life has been blessed by being persecuted for the word of God. Because God has used all of his pain, all of his suffering to make him a better man. to make him a better servant, to take him deeper in his walk with the Lord, to make him more godly and a more devoted man to the Word and to the God of the Word. And he does all of this in these verses by revealing the blessings that have come to him in his life as a result of being persecuted for the Word of God. That's why, folks, this paragraph is so important for us to know, to understand, to apply to our lives. It's important for us to understand that in sending suffering and pain and persecution into our lives, God knows what He's doing. He's sovereign, He's on the throne, He's wise, and He's good, and He has a purpose behind all of the suffering that you have endured and are enduring and will endure. And his purpose is to produce certain godly qualities in you, to make you more Christ-like, to make you more into the image of Christ. And only pain and suffering can accomplish this. It doesn't happen any other way. So as we go through these verses, we're going to see the psalmist revealing to us some very specific godly qualities that were produced in him as a result of being persecuted for the word. I mentioned seven of these godly qualities that persecution produced in him. We'll look at a few this morning and then we'll have the Easter service and message next week, and then we'll return to this. But he begins with telling us that the first godly quality that persecution produced in him was that it produced an attitude of awe, meaning reverence, awe for the Word of God. We read, verse 161, princes persecute me without cause. Now, as we've already noted, this is the final time that the psalmist will directly mention his persecution and his persecutors. He refers to them as princes, which is how he identified them earlier in the Psalm, in verse 23, when he said, they're talking against me. Now, who these men were, he doesn't explicitly state. He simply calls them princes, by which he means that these were men of rank. These were probably, and I've said this from the very beginning, most likely pagan Babylonian government officials. men who had the government behind them and therefore the authority to take his life if they chose to. And they were seriously thinking about it. It appears that at least on one occasion they had actually tried to murder him and almost succeeded. If you look back at verse 84, we read, How many are the days of your servant? When will you execute judgment on those who persecute me? He's asking about how many days do I have left? because I may die. And then notice verse 85, the arrogant have dug pits for me, men who are not in accord with your law. They've dug a pit for him because they wanted to throw him in it. He says in verse 87, they almost destroyed me on earth, but as for me, I did not forsake your precepts. So they had dug a pit for him. They tried unsuccessfully to kill him. These men's hatred for him and persecution had certainly developed. It had evolved from just talking against him to trying to murder him. And what he tells us here in verse 161 is that all of the persecution directed against him was without cause. And what he means by that, it was unjustified. He hadn't broken any laws. Remember, these are princes. These are government officials. But he hadn't broken any laws. He hadn't rebelled against them. He hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't harmed them in any way. So there's no valid reason for them to hate and persecute him. The only reason they hated him was because he was a godly Jewish man who had a heart's devotion to the God of Israel and the Holy Scriptures. But notice what his response is to this unwarranted persecution from these men. He goes on to say in verse 161, But my heart stands in awe of your words. Now this is a remarkable statement by the psalmist because what he is telling us is that instead of being in awe and trembling in dread of these high-ranking government officials who threatened his life, he was in awe instead of the Word of God. And the reason this is so remarkable is because with all of the power, all of the authority, that these men, these princes had power obviously to take his life, this man recognizes that God's word is his supreme authority and therefore he fears God more than he fears man. The word he uses to express this fear is the word awe, A-W-E, awe, and this particular Hebrew word has the dictionary meaning, the literal meaning of dread and trembling, even shaking if you will. But the bear dictionary meaning doesn't tell the whole story, because when the Bible speaks of being in awe of God and his word, it doesn't mean a cowering dread or a terrifying anxiety that causes us to panic or retreat and flee in fear, but rather Note this, it refers to a reverential awe on the highest level and admiration inspired by authority that results in a healthy fear of profound respect and submission. So, in essence, what the psalmist is telling us is that because he is in awe of God's Word, he's not in awe of his persecutors. He's lost all fear of them, because he understands that they're just men, and that it is really God, through His words, who rules supreme over everything that happens in this world, and therefore He rules supreme over everything that happens in his life. So, instead of fearing these men, He stands in awe of God's Word, and he trembles out of deep respect for the Word of God. Listen, one of the greatest benefits that comes with being persecuted for our faith is that it forces us to come to grips with the issue of who's really in charge of our lives? Who has supreme authority over us? Is it people? Or is it God? In other words, it causes us to come to an understanding of the supremacy and the sovereignty of God, and to recognize that human authorities actually have no ultimate power over us, because they can't do anything to us that God doesn't permit them to do. Now, the Scripture tells us that we are to honor our government leaders, regardless of who they are, regardless of what political party you're associated with. We are to honor and submit to all human authorities. 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 13 and 14 and then verse 17 address this. Peter says, Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. And I remind you that Nero, that wicked man, was the emperor when Peter wrote this. And then he says in verse 17, Honor the king. honor the king. But honoring and submitting to human authorities doesn't mean that we are to be in awe of them. It doesn't mean that we look upon them as being inherently superior to us and having unlimited power over us and we ought to shake and tremble in their presence. Not at all. The Lord Jesus addressed this issue very clearly both in his teaching and in his own personal experience Matthew chapter 10, he's telling his disciples that he's sending them out as sheep amongst wolves. And he says in verse 28, do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who's able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Now, Jesus tells us that we're not to fear what men can do to us, because all they can do, all they can do is harm us physically. That's it. But we who know Christ, we are to fear God. Because He's the one who has the ultimate authority, and His ultimate authority is so great that He's able to destroy both soul and body in hell for all of eternity. That's the one that people ought to fear. Now, this is not given to us so that we would fear going to hell. If you're a believer, you'll never go to hell. But for a believer in Christ, this truth Jesus is dealing with is brought up here for the sake of assuring us of God's power and sovereignty has a comfort for us. It is to free us from the fear of man. That's his point. That's his purpose. To comfort us by the fact that God knows everything and therefore he is in control of every event in life, even persecution and even our deaths. Why do I say that? Well, look and see what Jesus went on to say in the next few verses, starting in verse 29. He says, 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. And the point that Jesus is making is that God controls all of the mundane events of life. He's not simply saying that God knows when some birds die, but that God has been in control of all the events that lead to their death as well. God controls all of the mundane circumstances of life, even the deaths of these inexpensive birds. As well, Jesus goes on to say, as the number of hairs we have on our heads. Therefore, we're not to fear what men can do to us because God is in control of every event, every event that takes place, even the deaths of relatively worthless sparrows. And Jesus said, and you are so much more valuable to God than sparrows. So you don't need to fear any human authority figure. You don't need to fear them at all. Honor them. Be respectful. That's what we do as Christians. We are to respect and show honor to government officials, but not to fear them in the sense of trembling before them because they can't do anything to you that God has not ordained to happen to you. Now, that's what our Lord taught about God's sovereignty over human authority, but he also illustrated this in his own personal life. We see this in John 19. He's standing before Pilate. And we read, therefore, when Pilate, starting in verse eight, when Pilate heard this statement, what statement? The statement that the Jewish leaders gave to him is this man ought to be crucified because he said he was the son of God. So when Pilate heard the statement, he was even more afraid. And he entered into the praetorium. That was his official residence again. And he said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, you do not speak to me. Do you not know that I have authority to release you and I have authority to crucify you? Jesus answered, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above. Now Pilate was fearful, as I said, because the Jewish religious leaders had just told him that Jesus claimed that he was the son of God. And remember who Pilate is. He's Roman. He's a superstitious Roman citizen. And he's afraid that he has just scourged someone who could bring down divine curses upon him. That's why he's afraid. What has he done? Who is this one standing in front of him? So Pilate asks him, where are you from? And Jesus doesn't answer him. He refuses to answer Pilate's question. He refuses to tell him his origin. Pilate becomes angry and he tells Jesus, don't you realize I have the authority to release you or I have the authority to crucify you? And our Lord frankly and boldly tells Pilate that he's mistaken. He's wrong. You're wrong. He's wrong because he had no inherent, no intrinsic authority. The only authority that Pilate had has been delegated to him by the ultimate authority, God himself. See, Jesus was telling Pilate that the only thing he could do to him is what God had sovereignly ordained for him to do to him, and in this case, it was to crucify him. Pilate had no authority except to carry out God's will. Now, he didn't realize that, but that's the way things really are behind the scenes. Listen, no earthly king, no earthly monarch, no president, no prime minister, no dictator, no tyrant has absolute authority to do whatever they wish. Now, they may think that they do, but they don't. We read in Proverbs 21 verse one, the king's heart is like channels of water in the hands of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wishes. Ultimately, God controls and directs every king, every president, every prime minister's heart so that unwittingly they do whatever the almighty wants them to do. One of the great benefits of being persecuted for the faith is that it helps you to learn this great truth about God's sovereign control over human leaders. And therefore, it helps you to get over the fear of man. And all of us at times have struggled with the fear of man. And it brings a snare, the Bible says. But understanding this truth will help you to get over that. It'll help you get over the fear of man because it gives you a new awareness of man's limitations, of man's May I say smallness and God's infinite largeness to the point where your heart stands in awe of his word because you are in awe of him. Listen, persecution is a great blessing because it has a sanctifying, purifying effect on us. It's not easy to go through. But it's good for us because it helps us to see beyond our suffering to the God who ordains and controls all things. And it gives us a new appreciation for his word as supreme over all men and all human decisions at the highest level. I love what Spurgeon said. He said, how little do crowns and scepters become in the judgment of that man who perceives a more majestic royalty in the commands of his God. We are not likely to be disheartened by persecution or driven by it into sin if the Word of God continually has supreme power over our minds. So I ask you, does God's Word have supreme power over your mind or is it the fear of man? Does your heart stand in awe of the Word of God? Do you recognize God's sovereignty over everything in life, your boss, your teacher, government leaders, everyone who has a say in your life. God ultimately is sovereign and controls all the decisions. Listen, if you're suffering is the result of what someone has done to you, then profit, profit from it, benefit from it. By seeing man for what he really is, someone who has no real power simply carries out God's sovereign decrees and see God for who he is, the supreme one, the majestic one of the universe. Be in awe of him. and His Word. Don't be in awe of any human. So, the first godly quality that the psalmist tells us that persecution produced in his life is that it produced an attitude of awe for the Word of God. If you don't have that, then ask the Lord to help you. He'll probably answer that by sending some persecution your way. But as this man continues writing, He tells us about a second godly quality that persecution for the word produced in him. He tells us it produced rejoicing for the word of God. Notice we read in verse 162, I rejoice at your word as one who finds great spoil. I rejoice at your word as one who finds great spoil." The psalmist says that he rejoices at the word of God like one would rejoice if they found a great spoil. What does he mean by spoil? He doesn't mean by something that's spoiled. By spoil, he means a spoil of war. He means a treasure taken from a defeated enemy. In ancient times, you conquer an enemy, you get whatever they leave behind. You get the spoils of war. Now, I find this fascinating, very interesting. This man has just told us that he stands in awe of the word of God. Now he tells us that the same word causes him to rejoice. And what this does is that it affirms for us that the kind of awe he was talking about, it isn't the kind that paralyzes us with dread, with fear. Rather, it's the kind of awe that produces incredible joy. Great, great happiness, great joy, great thrill. The reason to produce this kind of joy in him was because he saw the Bible for what it really is. He saw it as the priceless treasure that contains truths and promises that are invaluable. See, what the psalmist is telling us is that the Bible thrilled him because it gave him true wealth. It gave him the riches of God's promises to him. In fact, Throughout this psalm, this man has repeatedly told us how much he has esteemed the Word of God, how much he valued it, how much he treasured it. I want to just refresh your memory. If you look back at verse 14, he says, I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. Even if he had all the riches of the world, he said, still, I rejoice in your testimonies. That's how thrilled they make me. Verse 72, notice what he says here. He said, the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. He'd rather have the Word of God than a lot of money. In verse 111, he says this, I have inherited your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart. He's saying that he'd rather have the Word of God than any monetary inheritance. The inheritance he wants is the Bible, and he's got it. And then in verse 127 we read, therefore I love your commandments above gold. Yes, above fine gold. So how did this man come to think so highly of the Bible? Well, there were probably a number of contributing factors. I mean, he's raised a Jewish parents who love the word. Most likely he's raised in Israel where the word was supreme. But no doubt, his persecution also helped him to gain a perspective on what was really important in life, what was really valuable, and what was not. As his life was threatened, this man came to realize how unimportant money was. how material wealth, how insignificant it was, compared to eternal truth, eternal realities. Folks, that's one reason why God sends persecution into your life, into my life, because it causes us to see what's really important in life. And you know what? It's not material gain. Because those things not only fail to give lasting, sustaining happiness, but they're so temporary. They're fleeting. They're brief. They're here today and gone. Jesus put it this way, what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his own soul? Nothing. You see, if you could gain everything that this world has to offer, but in the process neglect God, then at the end of your life you die, you go to hell for all of eternity, then you're someone to be pitied, not envied. There's no profit in that. The true riches are the riches of God's Word, because what you learn from the Word of God, it's lasting, it's eternal. But those things that you acquire of a material nature, all of that's passing away. And that makes them relatively meaningless. For one thing, you can't take anything materially with you when you die. Nothing. Paul said, we brought nothing into this world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. He brought nothing into this world, and when you leave, you're not taking anything. Like someone said, well, how much did he leave behind? What do you mean? He left everything behind. There's nothing he's taking to the next world. Secondly, this world is eventually going to be destroyed so that everything in it will perish. The apostle who focuses on this is Peter. He speaks in his second epistle of a coming fiery destruction of this entire planet. Let me read to you some verses, 2 Peter 3. Verse 7, Peter says, but by his word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. Verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. Verse 12, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. At the end of the millennial kingdom, it's going to be changed. Everything's going to be burned up. So in light of all this coming destruction, this fiery destruction, what's really most important to you? What's really important? It should be the Word of God. Because the word of God tells you how to be right with God so you can go to heaven when you die. The word of God tells you how to please God now to live in such a way that honors him and it's best for you. The word of God gives you precious promises that enable you to know how to navigate your way through this sin darkened world. What could be more valuable than that? Listen, persecution and suffering, those things, they're good for us. Not because they feel good, they don't, but because they help us to establish the right values and the right priorities, what's really important in life and what's really not important. You see, when your life is threatened because of your faith in Christ, you know what? None of those material things really matter. They don't matter at all. Your life is on the line. What really matters to you is the Word of God and its truthfulness. You have little interest in other things because you see that the things of this world are so shallow and so superficial. So a good dosage of persecution will get your attention. It'll cause you to rejoice in what God says about himself, what he says about his love for you, what he says about your future with him. Nothing else is of real consequence. So this is a very sobering truth. That's why the psalmist, the man who was being persecuted by these princes, that's why he rejoiced at God's Word, because his life was on the line. He had to come to grips with what's really important. What was really important to him was the Word. It's exactly what should be most important to you. And it is persecution that produces this quality in you. So receive it as a good gift from a good God. So far, the psalmist has told us about two benefits that he received from being persecuted by these government officials. First, he tells us that persecution benefited him by producing an attitude of awe for his word, for God's word. Second, he tells us that it also produced rejoicing for the word. Nothing made him happier than the riches of scripture. But as he continues this stanza, he gives us a third godly quality produced in his life as a result of being persecuted. He tells us that persecution produced in him a love for the word of God, a love for it. He said in verse 163, I hate and despise falsehood, but I love your law. Now this is interesting because what he does here, he admits that he has emotions that are complete opposites. contrary emotions. He tells us that he hates and despises falsehood, but he says he loves the law of God. He hates one thing. He loves something else. So first of all, we need to understand what does he mean by falsehood? This Hebrew word is actually a very broad word. It can cover all kinds of manifestations of falsehood. It can cover lying, deception, misleading, fraud, error, dishonesty, duplicity, and on and on it goes, just a broad Hebrew word, covering pretty much all falsehood. However, in the overall context of this psalm, the falsehood that the psalmist is most likely referring to are the lies of the false religion of his persecutors, those princes who were persecuting him without a cause. We know from what he's previously told us about this persecution that these men, as I've said before, they hated him for his faith. They put pressure on him to forsake the word of God and to embrace their pagan religious system. And it is true that he does state a number of times that these men lied about him. So yes, there's a falsehood there. But the primary falsehood that he was just bombarded with was their false religious system. And now he tells us he hates it. He hates it. In fact, he's telling us in the stanza just prior to this, he says, for example, in verse 158, I behold the treacherous and loathe them because they don't keep your word. He said, I've observed them. I've observed what their false religious system does, and I hate it. They're treacherous men. I see the end result of their lives by believing in their paganism. And so, the primary falsehood that he was bombarded with, that was their false religious system. He tells us he hates it because it's false, it's full of lies, it's full of deceit. He's seen what it has led to in their lives. He wants nothing to do with it. Now, I realize that it is not politically correct these days to criticize anyone's religion, but frankly, I don't care. And secondly, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that all religions apart from biblical Christianity, because that is revealed from God, all other religions are false. They're wrong. Now, those who follow these religions certainly believe that they're true, but they're deceived. They're deceived by the father of all lies and the father of all false religion. That is none other than Satan himself. Listen to what the apostle Paul reveals is the origin where all false religions come from apart. as we say, from God's revealed word, which is not a false religion, but is truth. In Romans 1, starting in verse 18, Paul speaks of ancient man. He speaks of where false religion started. He says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. So it begins where they suppress the truth, meaning they hold it down. They don't want it. They suppress it. Verse 19, because that which is known about God is evident within them, he means all around them, God has made it evident to them. Meaning nature, nature blasts this message that there is a God, a supreme being behind creation. He explains, verse 20, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse. Man is without excuse because he can see something of God's attributes in nature. Now he wouldn't understand the cross, he wouldn't understand the plan of salvation, but he would understand God's power, he would understand God's orderliness, things like that. So he's without excuse, he's rejected the evidence, the light of creation. Verse 21, for even though they knew God, and he means they knew about God from nature, creation, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. And what happens when you turn from the truth? He says, but they became futile in their speculations. Their foolish heart was darkened. You reject the light, you plunge into darkness. And here's the result. At least one of them professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image. Here's false religion in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling Listen, this is where all the religions of the world have their start. And it's not because man is so religious and he's searching and seeking God. It's because man is so rebellious and he's running from God that he invents his own religions to just sort of satisfy his conscience. This is where the religions of the world have their start. Man's rejection and rebellion of the truth. And now, It's continued in our human history. Man develops these religions, adds some things to them, they evolve, he invents new ones. But he's done this because he has rejected the light of God and therefore he walks in darkness. And out of a darkened mind comes all kinds of errors and lies about God, about man, about salvation, about heaven, about hell. That's why the psalmist says he hates it. He despises the false religious beliefs of his persecutors because they stem from blatant rebellion and opposition to God and His Word. And in addition, they do great damage to those who follow them. Great damage by persuading them to follow these beliefs straight into hell. This is why Jesus used such strong language to condemn the Pharisees and their corrupt, not biblical, but corrupt Religious teachings. Listen to what our Lord said, Matthew 23, verses 13 and 15. He said, But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people, for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Verse 15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourself. Jesus went on to refer to these teachers as the blind guides who lead other blind people. They lead other blind people into error and ultimately into hell. That's why the psalmist says he hates all this falsehood, this religion, false religion. And you know what? So should you. Don't be tolerant of false religion. And we're not saying be nasty to people. who hold to this. But don't be tolerant of this. These are doctrines of demons, and they deceive people, and they bring eternal harm to them. We ought to hate that. But as much as the psalmist hates falsehood, he goes on to tell us that he loves the law of God. And the reason he loves it is because, simply, it's truth. It's truth. The other is error. It's lies. It's damning to people. But he loves the truth. In fact, that's what he's just told us. Look at verse 160. The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting. And listen, while it's true that all true Christians have a love for the word of God, I want you to know that love is deepened and matured and enlarged when you suffer for it. That was the experience of the psalmist. He suffered for it. He loved it even more. It cost him something. As a result of being persecuted for the Bible, his appreciation and his love for Scripture grew. Having had to put his life on the line for the truth, his love for the truth increased and abounded. And so will yours. So will yours if you are persecuted for it. So, when persecution comes to you, and Paul said it will because all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. When it comes to you, don't be afraid of it. Don't shy away from it. Welcome it. Not because it's an easy thing to handle, but because God has sent it into your life as one of his gifts in order to produce in you the godly qualities of being in all of his word of rejoicing, rejoicing at his word and loving his word. But regardless of whether or not you've encountered much persecution, these are attitudes, you know what, that all of us who know Christ should have. All of us should have this at some level. So I ask you, do you hold the word of God in awe? Or do you just take the Bible for granted? Most of us have so many Bibles, we don't even think about it. But do you hold it in awe? Do you stand before it in awe when you read the word? Do you read the word? Be in awe of it. Do you rejoice in the word as much as you would rejoice if you inherited a million dollars? Does it make you that happy? It ought to. If not, you need to change. You need to ask the Lord to help you to rejoice in the word, to have it be more meaningful to you than all the money you could possibly possess. And do you love the word? Do you love it while disdaining error and falsehood? You should. You must to be obedient to God. Now, if Christ is not your savior, then you need to listen to his word. Because it is truth, and it will tell you how to be saved from the penalty of your sin, which is eternal death and separation from God. It will tell you about God becoming a man so that he would die on the cross as the punishment that sinners deserve. He would bear in their place. And if you will simply turn from your sin and trust Christ to be your substitute on the cross, then you will be saved from the wrath to come. You will be saved, you will be delivered, and you will be made a new person in him. Let's bow for prayer. And I remind you, we have some elders who will be up here at the front after the service if you'd like to speak to someone or pray with them. Father, we thank you for what we've learned today, Lord. None of us likes persecution. None of us enjoys it at a fleshly level, but we know it's good for us, and we know it even more now that we've studied this. And so, Lord, we thank you for giving us persecution from time to time as a gift. We thank you that you care enough about us to let us suffer so that we're purified, so that we don't go on our lives being conformed to this world. But Lord, we have an awe. for your word, we rejoice in it, we love it, we pray that you'll deepen us in all of this. Help us, Lord, to understand the true values of life, that there is nothing more important than your word, which tells us how to have a relationship with you. May we esteem it more important than all the money in the world, than all the greatest delicacies of food in the world, than all the pleasures in the world. May the Word of God mean everything to us because you mean everything to us. May you be first in our lives, Lord, nothing else, nothing else but you. And we pray for those who don't know you, Lord, as we approach the Easter season. We pray that people will see the silliness of Easter bunnies and recognize that this is about the resurrection of the Son of God. This is about his death, burial, being raised from the dead. May they see the truth. They don't have to fear death. They can have the answer to death and life by trusting Christ. So we pray, Lord, all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.