You may be seated. Just turn your Bibles to Psalm 119. We're gonna look at the noon stanza, Hebrew equivalent of the English in, and that's gonna be found in verses 105 through 112. So let's give our attention to the reading of God's word. This is Psalm 119, verses 105 to 112. The psalmist says, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it to keep your righteous rules. I am severely afflicted. Give me life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever to the end. That's from the reading of God's word. So I wanna talk tonight about, very briefly, about the word as a lamp and a light. And very simply, I just wanna start with an analogy that everybody can understand. It's very, very simple. I've given this before, but I remember when I lived in my old house, I was going out to work in the shed, and I opened up my shed, and of course it was filled with all kinds of junk because I needed to organize it. and it was dusk at that point and I opened the doors and I climbed over and under and around everything and I finally got to the back where I was going to start to clear things out and the wind blew the doors and shut the shed closed and so it was dark and I could not see what I was doing. What I needed was light. What I needed was illumination. Light shows and exposes what is in the dark. What is in the dark is oftentimes dangerous. You know this very well. If you've gotten up in the middle of the night and the kids' toys are on the ground and you're walking down the hallway and you step on them and you say things that you have to repent of later, you know that the dark can be dangerous. Obscurity can be dangerous. Ignorance can be dangerous. Blind zeal can be dangerous. And what we need is illumination. So what is illumination? Illumination is knowledge. Illumination is understanding. Illumination is wisdom. Illumination provides a way forward so that we can proceed. And what I love about this verse, in verse 105, and this has been turned into a song, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I love that subtle difference and contrast because This is how illumination works. Sometimes, illumination from God, answers from God, direction from God are just enough to light my feet so I could see where I'm going. Just enough. They don't show me the rest. They just show me enough. And I just have to go with what I know and move forward and come what may, see what happens. I was thinking about an illustration of this, and I prayed for Millie this morning, Millie Nagy, one of our sisters, and I told you that she works at Walmart and she has to, Walmart is pressuring them to wear these gay pride pins on their aprons, and it's just the world we live in right now, right? And I was thinking of how this principle applies, like I'm sure Millie thought in her mind, like, I don't know where all of this is going to go. I don't know how much more persecution as Christians we're going to endure. I don't know if it's going to get harder and harder and harder to where we're going to be having an underground church, or if on the other hand, the post-millennialists are right and we're going to take over the world. I don't know what's going to happen, but I know this, I can't wear that pin. I can't wear that pin. So I'm not looking into the future and counting noses and trying to see or divine who's gonna be in power so I could come under them and switch teams. I just know I'm a child of God. I have to call a spade a spade. I have to keep the ninth commandment. I have to say that a man is a man, a woman is a woman, and I can't wear this pin. That's a lamp unto her feet. But then other times, God gives us a light unto our path, right? We can see further down the road. And I was thinking of this, if early on you ask the question in your Christian life, how does a Christian grow? Like, how does this whole thing called sanctification work? How do we get grace? How does it get funneled to us? Well, God has already answered that question. And it's not, beloved, necessarily our quiet times, as good as those may be. No, the Lord grows us through the means of grace that take place in the corporate times of worship, word, sacrament, and prayer. So I don't have to reinvent the wheel. I just apply myself to the means of grace, I put myself under them, and then if my heart is willing in that place, I can expect to grow. It may be painful, it may be pleasant, but I'm going to grow. So we want to be illumined by God, but here's the problem. The problem, as you know, is that in 2 Corinthians 11, 14, somebody presents themselves as an angel of light, and who is that? Satan. Satan sometimes disguises himself, presents himself as an angel of light, okay? And so here's my question tonight, kind of just to frame things. How do we know when we come across in our mind or in our Christian life or in our reading or just in our sanctification a warning, maybe a warning that is pressed upon our conscience, or a promise that we have picked up in the Word of God and interpreted, how do we know if that is the light of God or Satan deceiving us? You say, that's a weird question. Well, I'll give you an example. In my years of counseling, I've multiple times come across Christians who say something to this effect. I know I'm married, and I know that biblically I have no warrant for divorce, but of course God wants me to be happy, and I'm not happy with this man or this woman, so I'm gonna get divorced. Obviously God wants me to be happy. There is a middle premise in there that has not been very well examined, right? God wants me to be happy, what does that mean? Maybe being happy and content is staying in a marriage where you don't have warrant for divorce. I'm not saying it's easy, but you do have God as your husband who's gonna be faithful, okay? So my question, again, is when we deal with warnings or promises, warnings or commandments, warnings or whatever the case may be, on the one hand, if this warning that I'm dealing with that's confronting me, how do I know it's not the accusations of Satan, the false accuser of the brethren, To where instead of accepting these warnings, I just need to say, you know what, I'm in Christ, I'm repentant, I don't need to worry about that. He's just trying to bring me down. Or on the other hand, if those warnings are really from God, because you are in a dangerous place. That's something we have to work through. So how do we distinguish between the light that Satan might bring, called a pseudo light, and the light and the illumination that comes from God? Well, I would say, number one, you ask yourself this question, am I walking in indulgence of any sin or neglect of any duty? Because if so, then I should interpret those warnings as a chastening from the Lord. Here's another way to ask it. If it is a promise, ask yourself, how do I respond to that promise? Listen to me. How do I respond to that promise? Do I get lazy and take the posture of a hyper-Calvinist? Well, God promised it, so it's just gonna happen, right? Or does that promise incite me to action? Let me give you an example. Remember when Paul was in the ship, and it was being beat by the storm, and everybody thought that they were gonna be shipwrecked on the shore. It was gonna run aground, and everybody was gonna die, right? And what did God come to Paul and say? He said, you're gonna stand before Caesar, so you and everyone in the ship is gonna be saved. There is a promise. But what did Paul say? Men, we will be saved, but everybody must stay in the ship. Don't jump out. You will be saved if you stay in the ship. So what happened? A promise was given, but action followed. He didn't just sit there twiddling his thumbs waiting for God to deliver everything. He had to be moved to action. Let me give you another example. Think of when God gave Hezekiah extended life, okay? What did it produce? It produced a scrupulous attention to the means of his recovery. A lot of people miss this, but in the end of Isaiah, chapter 38, verse 21, it says, okay, the promise is given. He's gonna have extended life, but then he needs to take these figs and apply them to his wounds so that he could be healed, okay? So it's not this idea that some Christians have that, you know, I'm sick. So I'm gonna pray to God to heal me, but I'm not gonna go to a doctor because that's a lack of trust. No, you must understand that God uses what? He uses means. And so we have to ask ourself, when we are confronted with a warning or a promise, what does it drive us to? Does it drive us to inaction or laziness or negligence? Or does it drive us to obedience and action and faithfulness? And what I wanna do in the short time remaining is I just wanna point out How the psalmist responds faithfully. How the psalmist responds to a promise of illumination, to a promise of God's word with faithfulness. Number one, look at verse six. I'm gonna give you four ways, it'll be very quick. Number one, verse 106, he swears an oath. He swears an oath. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it. And he's gonna keep God's righteous rules. So he doubles down, right? God gives him a promise. God gives him a warning. And what does he do? He doesn't scurry away. He doesn't get negligent. He doesn't get lazy. He doesn't lapse into backsliding. What does he do? He swears an oath. Now just as a side note, be careful with oaths. Be careful with oaths. Some people rush into oaths headlong and they end up in destruction. Like, don't do that. Be very careful. Be very careful with oaths. But there is a place for oaths. Oaths have saved many a man and woman from besetting sins. But you have to be in the right frame of mind and that's another lesson. But what I want to highlight here is that he swears an oath that he is going to keep God's righteous rules. And what would you say when he says in verse 106, I've sworn an oath and have confirmed it. In other versions, this verb in Hebrew, you could interpret it or translate it, I will confirm it. Okay, so it's a resolution to keep your righteous rules. How does that take place? How does it get fleshed out on the ground? Well, I think we see that in verse 108. Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. In other words, it happens in the context of corporate worship. Beloved, every time you're coming back here on Sunday, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, with the people of God, you know what one of the things is that you're doing? You're confirming your oath and your resolution that was publicly displayed before your brothers and sisters in baptism that I am a Christian. And every week I've got to come back and I've got to renew that oath again and again, over and over. double my efforts, I've got to be reminded once again of who I am in Christ and I need to dig deep into that identity and corporate worship helps me to do that. If you're neglecting corporate worship, you may lapse into some Christian versions of schizophrenia. Who am I? Who am I? Corporate worship helps you to remember the oath that you swore at baptism and keeps you on the track. Secondly, look at verse 107. Look at verse 107. I am severely afflicted. Give me life, O Lord, according to your word. I want you to notice here that he does not break under severe affliction, but he cries out for God to give him life according to his word. Beloved, there is a necessity to affliction. The old King James in 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7 says, if there need be affliction, if there need be affliction, and the Christian needs to have affliction. I know we don't like it. Trust me, I know we don't like it. But I want to remind you that the stones of the spiritual temple cannot be polished or fitted to their place without the strokes of the hammer. You need affliction to keep you on the path. The gold cannot be purified without the furnace. The vine must be pruned for greater fruitfulness. Even the Apostle Paul believed this when he said in 2 Corinthians 12, seven, so to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to keep me from becoming conceited. Turn over just real quickly to Psalm 103. Remember that in all affliction, your father is going to take care of you. Psalm 103, verses 13 and 14. Psalm says this. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him, for he knows our frame. He remembers that we are but dust. Now come back to Psalm 119. What does that remind us? Beloved, the Lord is not going to, in the furnace of affliction, he's not going to turn up the heat so hot that you can't take it. He knows your frame. and what you can handle in a furnace may be more or less than what your neighbor next to you can handle, and guess what? The Lord knows that. It's not your business to know what your neighbor can or cannot handle, but it is your obligation to remember that the Lord knows what you can handle, and he will not test you beyond what you are capable of. So do we wish to be sons, or do we wish to be illegitimate children? We wish to be sons and daughters. And sons and daughters are disciplined by a compassionate father. So as I always say, you don't seek affliction. It has its own way of finding you. But when it comes, you bear up under it. That's really what Paul means, as I've said a million times, when he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He means I could bear up under the affliction. I could bear up under any affliction that the Lord sends through Christ who strengthens me. Thirdly, look at verses 109 and 110. I'm gonna read them together. And I want you to notice that the first part of 109 is parallel to the first part of 110, and the second part of 109 is parallel to the second part of 110. So the psalmist says, I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. What is he saying here? Basically what he's saying is, I know that in setting my hand to the plow, in swearing that oath and confirming that oath and staying on the path, that leads to Christ, that is in Christ, I know that that is going to be risky. And we're finding that more and more to be true every single day, right? The state of the church, the state of affairs in the world, like it's not getting more comfortable for us, it's getting less comfortable for us. And the Lord is sovereign, it's okay. But what that means is that we have a lot of decisions to make. Young people, let me tell you a quick story. When I was a young Christian and unmarried, and obviously looking around to see who else was unmarried, I remember very distinctly one time that there was this beautiful young lady who was interested in me. And we started a conversation, and we talked for a while, and then I went home, and I realized she was not a believer. And it was a paradigm shift for me because it was at that moment that I had to say, okay, Josh, you're a Christian now, so you know what that means? That means that there's a whole category of women that is just off limits for you as candidates for a wife. Are you okay with that? And I had to reckon with that. Now, some of you say, well, yeah, duh, but you need to understand that there are countless scores of men and women who were faced with the same dilemma and they said, no, I'm not willing to take that risk. I'm not willing to take that, I'm not willing to cut off all those options because I want it all. But a Christian says risk is right. I'm willing to take that risk. I'm willing to trust the Lord that he's gonna send the right one at the right time in the right way who's perfectly fitted to my soul. And I can stand and say that the Lord has done exactly that. And you young people who are unmarried, you remember that. And don't just take it from me, take it from other Christians in this place who were in similar situations and they waited and the Lord delivered. And they could say with countless Christians throughout the ages, risk is right. So notice that he says, you know, I take my life in my hands continually. The wicked have laid a snare for me. Life is difficult. I have enemies. I have opposition. I have speed bumps, but I do not forget your law, but I do not stray from your precepts. So what are other risks that we have to be mindful of? Risks of losing family, right? Risk of losing friends. Risk of losing a place at the table in the public square. Risk of being thought foolish. I mean, how many times have we had conversations with folk about science, and when we tell them that we believe that God created in six days, we become the laughing stock of the room. Well, if the light was from Satan, I wouldn't take a risk. I wouldn't take a risk, but this light is from God, and he shows me what's at stake. I may lose much in this life, and indeed I will. And in some of your cases, you have. You've lost much because of Christ. But all that you lose in this life cannot be compared to what you will gain in the life to come. That is the options that God puts out on the table. He lays it out clearly so that you could say with the psalmist that risk is right. Finally, finally, verses 111 and 112. say this, your testimonies are my heritage forever for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever to the end. I want you to notice here finally that it is God's testimonies and not the comfort and indulgence of the flesh that is my inheritance and my joy. And really this kind of sums up everything that we have been saying. Okay, what is my inheritance? What do I get out of this life? Well, what I get is fidelity to God's word which gives me everything. Fidelity to God's word which gives me everything. It gives me life over death, it raises me from the grave, it seats me with Christ in the heavenly places even now, and it gives me identity, it gives me hope, It gives me victory that one day Christ will break through the clouds and make all things right. But until then, in our life of exile, we do not look for indulging the flesh, we do not look for the things that would make our flesh happy, but we find our joy and we find our inheritance in the testimonies of God, which give us a roadmap to the eschaton. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for your testimonies. They are true, they are right, they are light. And I pray, Father, that you would give us the audacity and the discernment, the illumination that would allow us to distinguish between false warnings and true warnings. and pseudo-promises and real promises. And Father, may you feed us as exiles on the way to the Eschaton. And Father, we pray that you preserve us all the way there. We ask in Christ's name. Amen. All right, so I just have one