1 00:00:05,242 --> 00:00:09,382 Speaker: Commitment is an increasingly rare quality in today's culture. 2 00:00:10,712 --> 00:00:12,722 Take something like the transfer portal. 3 00:00:13,392 --> 00:00:15,632 If you don't know what the transfer portal is, you're thinking this is something 4 00:00:15,632 --> 00:00:19,072 about a sci-fi movie or a video game, and it used to be about those things. 5 00:00:19,432 --> 00:00:22,742 Uh, but now, college athletics has opened up a brave new world 6 00:00:22,742 --> 00:00:24,071 called the transfer portal. 7 00:00:24,432 --> 00:00:28,081 And what's happened is things like the name and image and likeness, the NIL deal, 8 00:00:28,082 --> 00:00:31,912 which allows universities and colleges to pay college players, ha- has opened up 9 00:00:32,101 --> 00:00:34,112 this whole category where a player can… 10 00:00:34,112 --> 00:00:36,911 And, and you've seen the, the reels, or you've seen the videos 11 00:00:37,232 --> 00:00:38,632 o- of the player as a senior. 12 00:00:38,632 --> 00:00:41,052 He's sitting at the table there, and he's got all the different hats of 13 00:00:41,052 --> 00:00:42,232 the universities in front of him. 14 00:00:42,241 --> 00:00:44,561 A- and he's sitting there saying, "I've decided that I'm gonna 15 00:00:44,561 --> 00:00:45,812 go, and I'm gonna play for…" 16 00:00:45,971 --> 00:00:48,091 And he picks up the hat that he's gonna play for, and he puts it 17 00:00:48,091 --> 00:00:51,431 on, and he's excited, and Mom's excited, or she's upset 'cause she 18 00:00:51,431 --> 00:00:52,572 wanted him to go to somewhere else. 19 00:00:52,891 --> 00:00:56,181 But they're saying, "I'm committing to this school," until 20 00:00:56,181 --> 00:00:57,611 transfer portal season opens up. 21 00:00:58,271 --> 00:01:00,981 Because when the transfer portal opens up, they get to make decisions. 22 00:01:00,981 --> 00:01:02,031 And it's not always the player. 23 00:01:02,051 --> 00:01:05,251 Sometimes a, a coach will go to a university and say, "I'm all in with 24 00:01:05,251 --> 00:01:09,601 this university, and I'm signing a 40,000-year contract with this school. 25 00:01:09,602 --> 00:01:13,642 We're gonna win 40,000 championships," until two years later, some big 26 00:01:13,672 --> 00:01:16,732 SEC school comes knocking on the door, and that coach is like, "Never 27 00:01:16,732 --> 00:01:17,640 mind, I'm gonna go over there." 28 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,611 A- and so the players are left going, "Well, I wanna leave because 29 00:01:20,611 --> 00:01:23,151 I was really committed to the coach, not necessarily the school." 30 00:01:23,161 --> 00:01:27,691 A- and so commitment is now something that's malleable in our culture, right? 31 00:01:28,182 --> 00:01:30,471 It's not just in the world of college athletics either. 32 00:01:30,471 --> 00:01:34,651 I, I looked up, uh, divorce statistics recently, and while, uh, since 20- 33 00:01:35,091 --> 00:01:39,381 2000 to 2023, the rates of divorce have decreased in our nation. 34 00:01:39,731 --> 00:01:41,341 Uh, you might think, "Well, that's a good thing. 35 00:01:41,591 --> 00:01:43,441 Uh, maybe that means commitment is going up." 36 00:01:44,072 --> 00:01:47,920 But the problem is, the rates of marriage have also decreased in our 37 00:01:47,922 --> 00:01:52,202 nation, almost as, as fast as the rates of divorce have been going down. 38 00:01:53,282 --> 00:01:56,321 See, people i- increasingly are wary of commitment. 39 00:01:56,911 --> 00:01:59,401 We don't wanna commit, and I think a lot of the reasons why we don't wanna 40 00:01:59,401 --> 00:02:03,131 commit is because we're afraid that maybe something better is gonna come along. 41 00:02:03,631 --> 00:02:06,232 We think, "Well, maybe there's gonna be a better option out there," or, 42 00:02:06,232 --> 00:02:09,521 "Maybe I can further my career in a better job," or maybe i- if you're, 43 00:02:09,521 --> 00:02:12,121 you're in a dating relationship, "I don't know if I wanna commit to this 44 00:02:12,181 --> 00:02:15,711 lady because maybe there's a better one down the road," or, "I don't know if 45 00:02:15,712 --> 00:02:18,521 I wanna buy that house because maybe a better one will come on the market." 46 00:02:19,372 --> 00:02:25,198 We're afraid of commitment But when it comes to God, there is no better. 47 00:02:26,108 --> 00:02:28,798 When it comes to God, th- there's, there's not a better option 48 00:02:28,798 --> 00:02:30,328 that's gonna come along ever. 49 00:02:30,817 --> 00:02:33,468 We read it in Psalm 16:11, "Those who go after other 50 00:02:33,468 --> 00:02:34,488 gods," what does the Bible say? 51 00:02:34,638 --> 00:02:36,148 "Multiply their sorrows." 52 00:02:36,718 --> 00:02:39,398 When it comes to God, for Christians, there is no better 53 00:02:39,408 --> 00:02:40,608 God that's gonna come along. 54 00:02:40,608 --> 00:02:44,828 So it's good for us as Christians to swim against the culture, to go 55 00:02:44,868 --> 00:02:49,607 upstream, and to say, "We're, we're not gonna let commitment wane as 56 00:02:49,607 --> 00:02:52,067 a church, but we're gonna double down on our commitment to God." 57 00:02:52,357 --> 00:02:56,558 If anybody should be a committed people, it should be the people of God. 58 00:02:56,998 --> 00:03:00,498 And so this morning, what I want us to see in Psalm 119 is that a 59 00:03:00,498 --> 00:03:04,038 surefire way for us this morning to measure our commitment to God is to 60 00:03:04,038 --> 00:03:05,558 look to our commitment to His Word. 61 00:03:06,377 --> 00:03:07,678 Let me put it a different way for us. 62 00:03:07,947 --> 00:03:11,818 A, a devotion this morning, a devotion to the God of the Word is gonna look 63 00:03:11,818 --> 00:03:13,268 like a devotion to the Word of God. 64 00:03:14,167 --> 00:03:17,018 A devotion to the God of the Word is gonna look like a devotion to the Word of God. 65 00:03:17,277 --> 00:03:20,948 And now, we've been in this whole series this summer called A Summer in 66 00:03:20,948 --> 00:03:24,207 the Word, a- and so hopefully it's not a surprise to you that we're talking 67 00:03:24,208 --> 00:03:25,458 about the Bible again this morning. 68 00:03:26,147 --> 00:03:29,147 But maybe you're here going, "Man," and you're rolling your 69 00:03:29,167 --> 00:03:30,407 eyes, just hopefully internally. 70 00:03:30,407 --> 00:03:34,257 Please just roll them internally for me, um, in your heart, or just not at all. 71 00:03:34,597 --> 00:03:36,687 But maybe you're sitting there going, "Another message on how 72 00:03:36,687 --> 00:03:37,707 I need to be in the Bible." 73 00:03:37,968 --> 00:03:41,297 A- a- and yes, it's another message on h- why we need to be in the Bible. 74 00:03:41,517 --> 00:03:42,927 A- and, and here's why, y'all. 75 00:03:43,248 --> 00:03:46,877 Uh, this is, and, and, and maybe I can get a little bit of response here from us. 76 00:03:47,178 --> 00:03:51,708 Do you believe that this is the inerrant and authoritative Word of God? 77 00:03:52,697 --> 00:03:52,917 Yes. 78 00:03:52,928 --> 00:03:53,757 Yeah, from Him, right? 79 00:03:53,958 --> 00:03:54,257 Okay. 80 00:03:54,466 --> 00:03:56,607 So that means already we've all… 81 00:03:56,638 --> 00:04:00,197 All of y'all that said yes, at least in the room, that that means that this book 82 00:04:00,217 --> 00:04:04,427 is better than any other pursuit that you could have on the face of this planet, 83 00:04:05,127 --> 00:04:09,167 because that is true of nothing else in the world except for this book right here. 84 00:04:09,867 --> 00:04:15,648 Uh, the, the Bible is the only place that God has most plainly and clearly revealed 85 00:04:15,648 --> 00:04:19,637 Himself to us and said to us, "This is who I am, and I want you to know me." 86 00:04:20,297 --> 00:04:26,027 A- and so if that's true, then a- as much as we pursue anything else in this 87 00:04:26,037 --> 00:04:29,457 world, maybe you're pursuing career advancement, maybe you're pursuing your 88 00:04:29,457 --> 00:04:32,577 marriage, you're pursuing parenting, th- th- those are all fine and good, 89 00:04:33,567 --> 00:04:36,837 but we should pursue the Bible even more, because it's in our pursuit 90 00:04:36,837 --> 00:04:40,697 of the Bible, the Word of God, that we get to know the God of the Word. 91 00:04:41,287 --> 00:04:46,538 And so that's why our commitment to the God of the Word is indicative of 92 00:04:46,557 --> 00:04:48,277 our commitment to the Word of God. 93 00:04:48,377 --> 00:04:50,287 It, it's, it's a reciprocal relationship. 94 00:04:50,447 --> 00:04:52,767 The more you get into the Word of God, the more you're gonna 95 00:04:52,767 --> 00:04:53,927 love the God of the Word. 96 00:04:53,927 --> 00:04:55,727 The more you love the God of the Word, the more you're gonna 97 00:04:55,727 --> 00:04:56,868 wanna be in the Word of God. 98 00:04:58,157 --> 00:05:00,737 L- look at our first three verses this morning in verse 57 99 00:05:02,862 --> 00:05:03,532 First four verses. 100 00:05:03,532 --> 00:05:05,272 The Psalmist says this, "The Lord is my portion. 101 00:05:05,912 --> 00:05:07,382 I promise to keep your words. 102 00:05:07,602 --> 00:05:09,642 I entreat your favor with all my heart. 103 00:05:09,822 --> 00:05:12,012 Be gracious to me according to your promise. 104 00:05:12,272 --> 00:05:15,392 When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies. 105 00:05:15,642 --> 00:05:19,412 I hasten and do not delay to keep your commands." 106 00:05:21,144 --> 00:05:25,484 Again, I can't say that I'm devoted to God or talk about how much I love the 107 00:05:25,484 --> 00:05:27,224 Lord if I have no concern for His Word. 108 00:05:28,504 --> 00:05:29,573 But to talk about that, right? 109 00:05:29,654 --> 00:05:30,974 Being committed to the Word of God. 110 00:05:31,534 --> 00:05:33,544 Okay, but what does that look like? 111 00:05:33,844 --> 00:05:34,874 How do I do that? 112 00:05:34,874 --> 00:05:36,284 I wanna be committed to God. 113 00:05:37,134 --> 00:05:38,824 W- what does that look like? 114 00:05:38,824 --> 00:05:40,904 H- how do I go about pursuing that? 115 00:05:41,614 --> 00:05:44,373 Our first point this morning, just plainly, is this: commit to 116 00:05:44,374 --> 00:05:45,614 God by committing to His Word. 117 00:05:46,503 --> 00:05:47,524 It starts with commitment. 118 00:05:48,733 --> 00:05:52,603 Our devotion to God is, is, is, is seen in our devotion to His 119 00:05:52,603 --> 00:05:55,284 Word, and so we need to first start by being devoted to His Word. 120 00:05:56,683 --> 00:05:59,183 And, and we see that in these first four verses and, and there's really… 121 00:05:59,193 --> 00:06:02,743 there's, there's four things here that, that are ways that we can commit 122 00:06:02,744 --> 00:06:05,344 ourselves to the Word of God, or, or at least four thoughts about what 123 00:06:05,344 --> 00:06:07,764 commitment to the Word of God looks like here that I want us to see as sub 124 00:06:07,764 --> 00:06:08,874 points under this first point here. 125 00:06:09,114 --> 00:06:10,223 Look at verse fifty-seven. 126 00:06:10,423 --> 00:06:14,183 He says, "The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words." 127 00:06:14,873 --> 00:06:17,413 The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words. 128 00:06:17,413 --> 00:06:19,774 A- a- and we've seen this before from the psalmist in, 129 00:06:19,783 --> 00:06:21,153 in one nineteen and one eleven. 130 00:06:21,353 --> 00:06:24,573 He says, "Your testimonies are my heritage. 131 00:06:25,064 --> 00:06:28,724 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart." 132 00:06:29,082 --> 00:06:31,774 The word heritage there, the psalmist was saying portion. 133 00:06:31,894 --> 00:06:32,733 They're my inheritance. 134 00:06:32,733 --> 00:06:33,683 They're what I treasure. 135 00:06:33,704 --> 00:06:37,343 They're the things that I, I long for, the thing that I prize. 136 00:06:37,593 --> 00:06:40,773 And here, back in our passage in verse fifty-seven, the psalmist 137 00:06:40,773 --> 00:06:42,564 is saying the Lord is that. 138 00:06:43,034 --> 00:06:46,293 And so, as a result, he says, "I promise to keep your words." 139 00:06:47,513 --> 00:06:52,703 Uh, the first way that we commit to the Word of God is to commit, is to commit. 140 00:06:53,013 --> 00:06:53,863 Verse fifty-seven. 141 00:06:54,494 --> 00:06:57,504 To say with the psalmist, "Yes, the Lord is my portion." 142 00:06:57,803 --> 00:06:59,933 I'm committing to that truth, that reality. 143 00:07:00,384 --> 00:07:03,244 I'm choosing the Lord above all other things in my life. 144 00:07:03,244 --> 00:07:08,393 There are other good things in my life, but nothing is as good as the Lord is. 145 00:07:08,513 --> 00:07:10,563 The psalmist wanted Yahweh. 146 00:07:10,573 --> 00:07:11,693 He wanted the Lord. 147 00:07:11,704 --> 00:07:14,823 He wanted God, and I hope that's true of every believer in the room this morning. 148 00:07:15,343 --> 00:07:19,523 That all of us would say, "Yeah, I wanna be able to say the Lord is my portion." 149 00:07:20,573 --> 00:07:23,483 Like the psalmist says in Psalm sixteen eleven, "There is no 150 00:07:23,483 --> 00:07:24,703 good apart from the Lord." 151 00:07:25,244 --> 00:07:26,613 That we would say, "The Lord is my portion." 152 00:07:27,443 --> 00:07:31,353 I hope that given the choice, we would say, "Take the world, but give me Jesus." 153 00:07:32,673 --> 00:07:36,223 I hope that we would say, "Yes, uh, God, you are, you are my portion. 154 00:07:36,223 --> 00:07:37,653 I, I, I promise to keep your words." 155 00:07:38,443 --> 00:07:41,603 A- and yet that's easy for us to say right now this morning as we're surrounded by 156 00:07:41,623 --> 00:07:42,873 other brothers and sisters in Christ. 157 00:07:42,873 --> 00:07:46,634 It's easy for us to say on the, the high of, of Sunday as we gather together as 158 00:07:46,634 --> 00:07:49,973 the church, but what about Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday? 159 00:07:51,003 --> 00:07:56,194 Will we still say, "Take the extra thirty minutes of sleep, and instead 160 00:07:56,354 --> 00:07:57,823 give me thirty minutes more with Jesus"? 161 00:07:59,053 --> 00:07:59,803 Would we say, "You know what? 162 00:07:59,803 --> 00:08:03,763 Take the hour of doomscrolling on social media, and give me an hour of Jesus"? 163 00:08:05,742 --> 00:08:06,782 Take the world, but give me Jesus. 164 00:08:06,792 --> 00:08:08,152 Would we say, "The Lord is my portion"? 165 00:08:08,792 --> 00:08:11,562 And, and notice the psalmist's response, "The Lord is my portion. 166 00:08:11,972 --> 00:08:13,382 I promise to keep your words." 167 00:08:13,392 --> 00:08:16,332 It's a, a clause that's a result of the first part. 168 00:08:17,312 --> 00:08:21,021 He's saying, "Because the Lord is my portion, because He's my treasure, 169 00:08:21,022 --> 00:08:23,781 because He's my inheritance, because I want Him more than anything 170 00:08:23,781 --> 00:08:27,451 else, I promise to keep His words." 171 00:08:28,482 --> 00:08:32,421 The psalmist knew that if he wanted more of God, he needed more of the Word of God. 172 00:08:33,332 --> 00:08:35,111 But to be able to keep the Word, we need to have the Word. 173 00:08:35,671 --> 00:08:37,621 To keep is, is to, to treasure. 174 00:08:37,631 --> 00:08:38,802 It's to store up. 175 00:08:39,152 --> 00:08:40,451 It's to commit to. 176 00:08:40,461 --> 00:08:41,751 It's to conform to. 177 00:08:41,761 --> 00:08:42,921 It's to practice. 178 00:08:42,931 --> 00:08:45,611 It's to be careful about adhering to it. 179 00:08:45,711 --> 00:08:48,231 That's all behind the idea of the word keep. 180 00:08:49,521 --> 00:08:52,271 And so if we're gonna keep God's Word, we have to know God's Word. 181 00:08:52,290 --> 00:08:56,692 And listen, y'all, it's not enough to just show up and listen to me every Sunday. 182 00:08:57,231 --> 00:08:58,641 I'm not enough for that. 183 00:08:59,891 --> 00:09:02,081 Man shall not live by bread alone, but, uh, by every word 184 00:09:02,082 --> 00:09:02,971 that comes from the mouth of God. 185 00:09:03,012 --> 00:09:05,811 You guys need daily interaction with God's Word. 186 00:09:06,131 --> 00:09:08,961 And again, before we push back on that, I don't want you to, to say, 187 00:09:08,972 --> 00:09:11,302 "Okay, well, the pastor's just telling me I need to read my Bible more." 188 00:09:11,761 --> 00:09:14,551 I want you to see that, that God's Word is telling us that. 189 00:09:14,551 --> 00:09:16,941 But more than that too, I want you to just treasure the Word 190 00:09:16,941 --> 00:09:18,141 of God and say, "Why wouldn't I? 191 00:09:19,401 --> 00:09:19,951 Why wouldn't I?" 192 00:09:19,971 --> 00:09:22,202 Again, what did we all agree to earlier? 193 00:09:22,331 --> 00:09:23,911 At least most of us in the room I think did. 194 00:09:24,361 --> 00:09:26,431 That this is the authoritative, inerrant Word of God, that 195 00:09:26,431 --> 00:09:27,501 God has given this to us. 196 00:09:27,521 --> 00:09:28,101 Think about it. 197 00:09:28,271 --> 00:09:34,572 He had these books, these words written down thousands of years ago and preserved 198 00:09:34,661 --> 00:09:39,482 through the transcription and the copying of scribal, uh, manuscripts over the 199 00:09:39,521 --> 00:09:44,540 ages, and He had them bound for us into a single canon of 66 books of the Bible. 200 00:09:44,771 --> 00:09:48,231 And when you look at the Bible and you look at the stats on reliability and you 201 00:09:48,231 --> 00:09:53,311 begin to investigate it, there is no other book, ancient or modern, that is as well 202 00:09:53,331 --> 00:09:56,771 attested and reliable as the Bible is. 203 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,652 And you have to step back and ask yourself the question, why did God do that if 204 00:10:01,652 --> 00:10:05,711 not for us to read it, to know Him? 205 00:10:07,041 --> 00:10:09,751 I mean, the God of the universe has said, "This is, this is 206 00:10:09,751 --> 00:10:11,002 how I want you to know me. 207 00:10:11,151 --> 00:10:13,011 I'm giving you a book that's all about me." 208 00:10:14,471 --> 00:10:18,561 And, and, and this is not meant to be a, a burden to us, but when we 209 00:10:18,561 --> 00:10:21,161 think about it that way, it should be something that we would say, "Man, I, 210 00:10:21,161 --> 00:10:22,761 I, I want it as much as I can get it. 211 00:10:23,992 --> 00:10:25,621 I wanna commit to the Word of God." 212 00:10:26,531 --> 00:10:29,661 For some this morning, that might be the main takeaway today, and, and praise God. 213 00:10:30,161 --> 00:10:32,282 I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna commit to being in God's Word. 214 00:10:33,331 --> 00:10:34,051 I'm resolving. 215 00:10:34,102 --> 00:10:38,540 This is, this is what I'm gonna do But second, notice i-if you want to 216 00:10:38,540 --> 00:10:41,218 commit to the Lord, it, it's not just committing, but it's also expecting His 217 00:10:41,218 --> 00:10:43,808 favor in return, His favor in return. 218 00:10:43,998 --> 00:10:47,588 This is the Double Stuff Oreo on the end of the stick, okay? 219 00:10:47,808 --> 00:10:48,508 It's not a carrot. 220 00:10:48,547 --> 00:10:51,008 Carrots, nobody likes carrots except for rabbits and people with 221 00:10:51,018 --> 00:10:53,248 bad eyesight, 'cause carrots are supposed to make your eyesight better. 222 00:10:54,007 --> 00:10:56,587 It's the Double Stuff Oreo on the end of the stick, or it's your Christmas 223 00:10:56,587 --> 00:10:59,258 tree cake, or it's whatever you like on the end of the stick, okay? 224 00:10:59,708 --> 00:11:01,898 It, it-- The, the psalmist is saying there's good that comes 225 00:11:01,898 --> 00:11:02,717 from being in the Word of God. 226 00:11:03,557 --> 00:11:06,868 It's not just, uh, like I said, it's not a burden, but it's in the Word 227 00:11:06,868 --> 00:11:09,928 of God that the psalmist can say, "Uh, Lord, I, I, I want your favor." 228 00:11:10,668 --> 00:11:14,158 That we should expect favor when we give ourselves over to 229 00:11:14,158 --> 00:11:15,028 the study of the Word of God. 230 00:11:15,028 --> 00:11:15,767 He says it this way. 231 00:11:15,768 --> 00:11:19,997 He says in verse 58, "I entreat your favor with all my heart. 232 00:11:20,227 --> 00:11:22,928 Be gracious to me according to your promise." 233 00:11:23,247 --> 00:11:24,228 I entreat your favor. 234 00:11:24,228 --> 00:11:26,947 The word favor there is the word for the face of God. 235 00:11:27,788 --> 00:11:29,098 He says, "I wanna see your face. 236 00:11:29,098 --> 00:11:30,527 I wanna be in your presence, Lord." 237 00:11:31,677 --> 00:11:36,747 And the safest place and the, the, the most accessible place for us to find 238 00:11:36,747 --> 00:11:40,967 the presence of God is in the Word of God, is to be there, to sit with Him. 239 00:11:41,427 --> 00:11:43,718 And so he says, "Be gracious to me according to your promise." 240 00:11:43,868 --> 00:11:46,817 He knows that to be in the presence of God, he's gonna need the grace 241 00:11:46,817 --> 00:11:50,837 and mercy of God to atone for his shortcomings, his sin in life. 242 00:11:51,288 --> 00:11:52,028 So what does he say? 243 00:11:52,038 --> 00:11:54,948 He says, "Be gracious to me according to your promise." 244 00:11:55,167 --> 00:11:57,587 The word promise there, it's one of the synonyms that the psalmist uses 245 00:11:57,597 --> 00:11:59,177 for the Word of God in Psalm 119. 246 00:12:00,027 --> 00:12:03,288 And so here he says, "There is grace and there is mercy and there is favor 247 00:12:03,288 --> 00:12:04,318 to be found in the Word of God." 248 00:12:04,318 --> 00:12:07,047 In other words, there's good, there's the Oreo, there's the Double Stuff 249 00:12:07,078 --> 00:12:09,547 Oreo on the end of the stick for us. 250 00:12:09,737 --> 00:12:13,097 The stick might be, "Hey, uh, you need to be in the Word of God consistently." 251 00:12:13,097 --> 00:12:15,067 That might be the thing that's like, "Okay, I gotta do that. 252 00:12:15,067 --> 00:12:15,558 I gotta wait. 253 00:12:15,558 --> 00:12:16,777 I gotta sacrifice to do that." 254 00:12:17,047 --> 00:12:19,417 But there's good to be found there because the psalmist says, "Man, 255 00:12:19,417 --> 00:12:22,857 I, I know that there's favor and there's grace and there's mercy to 256 00:12:22,858 --> 00:12:25,657 be found for me in the Word of God." 257 00:12:27,758 --> 00:12:30,378 But third, not only to expect favor in return, but third, 258 00:12:30,608 --> 00:12:31,768 to determine to obey it. 259 00:12:32,588 --> 00:12:35,068 If I'm gonna commit to the Word of God, I'm gonna commit by 260 00:12:35,068 --> 00:12:36,178 saying, "Lord, I'm, I'm all in. 261 00:12:36,178 --> 00:12:36,818 I'm committing. 262 00:12:36,998 --> 00:12:39,458 I'm committing expecting your favor," and then I'm also-- I'm gonna 263 00:12:39,458 --> 00:12:42,408 determine that as I go to the Word of God, I'm gonna obey the Word of God. 264 00:12:43,048 --> 00:12:43,808 And so he says this. 265 00:12:43,808 --> 00:12:47,428 He says, "When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies." 266 00:12:48,537 --> 00:12:50,958 When I think on my ways, such a good practice for us to get into. 267 00:12:50,958 --> 00:12:54,527 The word "ways" there, it implies our, our patterns of life, our 268 00:12:54,527 --> 00:12:56,297 spheres of life, our behaviors. 269 00:12:56,297 --> 00:12:59,447 If you've ever read a productivity book, a lot of times it'll talk to you 270 00:12:59,447 --> 00:13:01,377 about determine what your roles are. 271 00:13:01,747 --> 00:13:03,107 What are your different roles? 272 00:13:03,107 --> 00:13:07,427 Maybe you're an employer or employee, or maybe you are a manager, or 273 00:13:07,427 --> 00:13:10,228 maybe, uh, some of your roles, let's get outside the work environment. 274 00:13:10,337 --> 00:13:13,897 Y- maybe you're a mom, you're a dad, uh, y- you are a brother, you're a 275 00:13:13,897 --> 00:13:15,358 sister, you're a husband, you're a wife. 276 00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:18,417 Uh, y- you are any number of things. 277 00:13:18,427 --> 00:13:19,157 Those are your roles. 278 00:13:19,177 --> 00:13:21,137 Those are the ways of your life. 279 00:13:21,637 --> 00:13:24,667 And so the psalmist says, "I'm gonna give thought to my ways," 280 00:13:24,677 --> 00:13:25,737 and that's good for us to do. 281 00:13:25,738 --> 00:13:27,467 We shouldn't just let life happen to us. 282 00:13:28,008 --> 00:13:31,137 We need to think about, we need to proactively take time occasionally, 283 00:13:31,258 --> 00:13:35,007 weekly, monthly, whatever that is, and say, "Lord, I wanna consider my ways. 284 00:13:35,487 --> 00:13:37,017 I wanna consider my life." 285 00:13:37,137 --> 00:13:41,558 And, and the idea is there's all these paths that might be taken, and the 286 00:13:41,558 --> 00:13:45,627 psalmist says, "If I see any of my ways that aren't on the path according to the 287 00:13:45,637 --> 00:13:49,848 testimonies, the Word of God, man, I wanna turn my feet off that path and onto the 288 00:13:49,848 --> 00:13:51,377 path of the testimonies of God's Word." 289 00:13:52,497 --> 00:13:55,058 And so I'm gonna look at my life, and I, I, I might say, "You know what? 290 00:13:55,107 --> 00:13:59,567 I feel like I'm, I'm doing okay in most of my ways of my life, but man, my-- the, the 291 00:13:59,647 --> 00:14:03,527 path of my free time over here, I'm not really following the Word of God when it 292 00:14:03,527 --> 00:14:04,867 comes to the way I'm using my free time. 293 00:14:05,917 --> 00:14:07,367 I gotta get that back on the path." 294 00:14:08,167 --> 00:14:09,777 Or maybe you're thinking about the ways of your life and you're going, 295 00:14:09,777 --> 00:14:12,567 "Uh, generally, I would say I'm, I'm doing okay, but man, my thought 296 00:14:12,567 --> 00:14:16,227 life recently has not really been in accordance with the Word of God. 297 00:14:16,228 --> 00:14:18,267 I, I, I haven't been following God's Word in what I've been 298 00:14:18,277 --> 00:14:19,357 giving my thoughts over to." 299 00:14:19,368 --> 00:14:22,717 A- and so this is an opportunity to turn your feet to His testimonies, to 300 00:14:22,717 --> 00:14:25,678 say, "I need to think about that way in my life," and say, "What does it look 301 00:14:25,678 --> 00:14:27,537 like to conform now to the Word of God?" 302 00:14:27,537 --> 00:14:30,127 In other words, to come to the Word of God and to obey the Word of God. 303 00:14:30,647 --> 00:14:31,817 Or maybe it's, "You know what? 304 00:14:31,938 --> 00:14:34,027 I'm doing okay, but, but my marriage isn't great. 305 00:14:34,037 --> 00:14:37,557 My role as a wife, my role as a husband, I'm, I'm not really being the husband or 306 00:14:37,558 --> 00:14:39,128 the wife that God has called me to be." 307 00:14:39,128 --> 00:14:42,197 O- o- okay, so considering that way, what does it look like for my-- to 308 00:14:42,387 --> 00:14:46,957 turn my feet to His testimonies in that area of my life and to obey His Word? 309 00:14:47,487 --> 00:14:50,077 And so when we commit to the Word of God, because we wanna commit to the God 310 00:14:50,077 --> 00:14:53,368 of the Word, a part of that means we come to the Word of God ready to obey 311 00:14:53,368 --> 00:14:55,157 it, ready to say, "Lord, you are Lord. 312 00:14:55,267 --> 00:14:56,747 I'm gonna turn my feet to your testimonies." 313 00:14:56,747 --> 00:15:01,277 A- and along those lines, because He is Lord, that, that final point here 314 00:15:01,277 --> 00:15:02,918 is we need to eagerly prioritize it. 315 00:15:04,228 --> 00:15:07,647 We need to eagerly prioritize the Word of God in our lives and our obedience to it. 316 00:15:08,984 --> 00:15:11,084 He is Lord, right? 317 00:15:11,624 --> 00:15:13,344 Jesus is our Savior, right? 318 00:15:13,564 --> 00:15:15,504 He's the, the, the, the King. 319 00:15:16,314 --> 00:15:17,484 He is the Son of God. 320 00:15:17,664 --> 00:15:19,443 He's the one who holds all things together. 321 00:15:19,664 --> 00:15:23,864 But one of the key relationships that we have to Him presently as believers 322 00:15:24,094 --> 00:15:27,994 is He is our Lord or our Master. 323 00:15:28,654 --> 00:15:31,904 And what that would imply then is that we are His subjects, right? 324 00:15:31,904 --> 00:15:32,983 We are His servants. 325 00:15:33,913 --> 00:15:36,873 We are even, if I could go so far as to say, we are His slaves. 326 00:15:37,273 --> 00:15:40,383 And so what does He say there in verse 60? 327 00:15:40,394 --> 00:15:45,053 He says, "I hasten and I do not delay to keep your word. 328 00:15:45,053 --> 00:15:48,543 I hasten and I do not delay to keep your commandments." 329 00:15:48,863 --> 00:15:50,163 Uh, think about it like this. 330 00:15:50,183 --> 00:15:54,393 If, if you had a, uh, if you had a servant, and that servant even, 331 00:15:54,393 --> 00:15:58,083 even with a good master, and Jesus is a good Lord, He is a good master. 332 00:15:58,084 --> 00:15:59,533 He's not harsh, He's not cruel. 333 00:15:59,943 --> 00:16:03,673 But if you-- even with a good master or a good servant, uh, or a good Lord, the 334 00:16:04,163 --> 00:16:07,433 servant's job when the master says or the Lord says, "Hey, I want you to go 335 00:16:07,433 --> 00:16:10,833 and do this," the servant's job is not to say back to the Lord or to the master, 336 00:16:11,233 --> 00:16:12,713 "Okay, I'll get around to it eventually." 337 00:16:13,493 --> 00:16:13,853 Right? 338 00:16:14,603 --> 00:16:15,913 That's not the servant's job. 339 00:16:16,573 --> 00:16:19,183 The servant says to the Lord, "On it. 340 00:16:19,963 --> 00:16:21,294 I'm doing it right away. 341 00:16:22,463 --> 00:16:23,634 Let me, let me get that done pronto." 342 00:16:24,573 --> 00:16:24,813 Right? 343 00:16:25,544 --> 00:16:27,403 Because that's the relationship that exists. 344 00:16:27,404 --> 00:16:28,864 That's the expectation that exists. 345 00:16:29,014 --> 00:16:31,414 And so when we come to the Word of God, we need to be like the 346 00:16:31,414 --> 00:16:32,933 psalmist and say, "I'm hastening. 347 00:16:32,933 --> 00:16:34,493 I'm not delaying on this anymore." 348 00:16:34,663 --> 00:16:36,963 I'm not coming across a passage of Scripture, in other words, and 349 00:16:36,963 --> 00:16:37,923 thinking to myself, "You know what? 350 00:16:38,213 --> 00:16:40,333 I'm gonna apply that and obey that when I get older." 351 00:16:41,423 --> 00:16:43,834 Or we're not coming to a passage in, in the Scripture saying, "You know what? 352 00:16:44,044 --> 00:16:46,663 I'm gonna apply that to my life when I'm a more mature believer." 353 00:16:47,173 --> 00:16:49,253 Or we're not coming to a portion of the Bible and saying, "You know what? 354 00:16:49,283 --> 00:16:52,343 I'll obey that when, uh, when I get out of the trial that 355 00:16:52,343 --> 00:16:53,483 I'm walking through right now." 356 00:16:54,794 --> 00:16:59,473 No, because Jesus is our Lord, and this is His Word, when we come to 357 00:16:59,474 --> 00:17:04,084 it and we see that He calls us to obey, then our response is, "On it. 358 00:17:04,953 --> 00:17:05,553 I'm gonna obey. 359 00:17:06,084 --> 00:17:07,663 I'm going to determine to obey it. 360 00:17:07,663 --> 00:17:10,502 I'm gonna eagerly prioritize that obedience in my life 361 00:17:12,744 --> 00:17:13,974 Commit to God by committing to His Word. 362 00:17:14,035 --> 00:17:16,944 I, I've been dabbling in, in dipping my toe in the, into the world of Claude 363 00:17:16,954 --> 00:17:18,435 recently, and I know I'm behind on that. 364 00:17:18,435 --> 00:17:20,494 And somebody was telling me there's something called Hermes out there, 365 00:17:20,494 --> 00:17:21,845 which I guess sits on top of Claude. 366 00:17:22,066 --> 00:17:23,156 I don't even know what that means. 367 00:17:23,714 --> 00:17:26,626 But they were saying that it can do some even more amazing things, 368 00:17:26,626 --> 00:17:27,866 and maybe you understand that. 369 00:17:28,175 --> 00:17:31,295 Um, but I've been trying to understand Claude a little bit more, and I'm coming 370 00:17:31,295 --> 00:17:34,685 over to it, and so I've just been watching some YouTube videos, and here's how you 371 00:17:34,686 --> 00:17:37,755 do this, and I'm learning about projects and master prompts and all that stuff. 372 00:17:38,505 --> 00:17:41,535 But I, I, I haven't really given myself over to it fully yet. 373 00:17:42,086 --> 00:17:43,355 I, I'm just kinda on the outskirts. 374 00:17:43,356 --> 00:17:48,275 I'm, I'm intrigued by Claude, and so I'm, I'm watching things, I'm learning 375 00:17:48,275 --> 00:17:49,885 things, I'm impressed by things. 376 00:17:50,125 --> 00:17:52,925 I hear some of y'all tell me about what you can do with Claude. 377 00:17:53,195 --> 00:17:54,845 I'm like, "Wow, that sounds really cool." 378 00:17:55,235 --> 00:17:58,116 Uh, but I haven't yet said I'm all in with Claude. 379 00:17:58,116 --> 00:18:01,475 I haven't committed to Claude, and so I'm not taking the courses to 380 00:18:01,475 --> 00:18:05,125 learn it yet or to, to really dive in and get hands-on with it every 381 00:18:05,125 --> 00:18:06,706 single day so that I can do it. 382 00:18:06,706 --> 00:18:09,626 A-and so I'm, I'm somebody who's intrigued by Claude, but 383 00:18:09,626 --> 00:18:11,015 I'm not yet all in with Claude. 384 00:18:11,475 --> 00:18:15,135 And my fear is that some of us as Christians are more intrigued 385 00:18:15,135 --> 00:18:17,625 with the Word of God than we are all in with the Word of God. 386 00:18:18,476 --> 00:18:19,605 We'll listen to a sermon. 387 00:18:20,436 --> 00:18:21,725 We'll listen to sermons weekly on it. 388 00:18:22,425 --> 00:18:23,605 We'll listen to podcasts. 389 00:18:23,616 --> 00:18:24,865 We'll read books about it. 390 00:18:25,455 --> 00:18:28,465 We'll hear other people tell us what God's Word has done in their lives. 391 00:18:29,385 --> 00:18:32,396 But for us, we're really not there where we're all in with the Word of God, 392 00:18:32,396 --> 00:18:35,305 saying, "I need it every single day in my life, and Lord, I want you to do in 393 00:18:35,305 --> 00:18:39,045 my life through the Word what you've been doing in their lives through the Word." 394 00:18:40,906 --> 00:18:44,085 And so the, the opportunity here for us as we sit here this morning is 395 00:18:44,086 --> 00:18:46,295 to think, "Man, if I wanna commit to God, I need to commit to His Word." 396 00:18:47,315 --> 00:18:51,226 'Cause to be devoted to the God of the Word is to be devoted to the Word of God 397 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,340 One thing I know, though, is if you're gonna make that commitment, 398 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:57,380 you're gonna face opposition. 399 00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:01,920 You're gonna have an opponent because you have an enemy who's prowling around like 400 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,400 a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 401 00:19:03,950 --> 00:19:05,899 You have an enemy that doesn't want you in the Word of God. 402 00:19:06,210 --> 00:19:08,450 You have an enemy that's gonna cause you to go, "I'm not… 403 00:19:08,749 --> 00:19:10,990 No way am I setting my alarm 30 minutes earlier tomorrow morning." 404 00:19:11,469 --> 00:19:13,639 You're gonna have an enemy that's like, "Man, this pastor's just 405 00:19:13,639 --> 00:19:15,939 legalistic telling you to be in the Word of God every single day. 406 00:19:16,030 --> 00:19:16,859 Don't worry about that. 407 00:19:16,860 --> 00:19:17,730 You don't have to listen to him. 408 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:19,289 After all, there's grace." 409 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,499 You're gonna have an enemy that's gonna try to undermine and do everything 410 00:19:22,499 --> 00:19:25,310 he can to keep you out of God's Word because he knows how powerful it is for a 411 00:19:25,310 --> 00:19:27,589 Christian to be in God's Word every day. 412 00:19:28,449 --> 00:19:30,729 And so along those lines, look at what David writes n-next, 413 00:19:30,730 --> 00:19:31,609 or the psalmist writes next. 414 00:19:31,609 --> 00:19:34,320 He says this: "Though the cords of the wicked ensnare 415 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,319 me, I do not forget your law." 416 00:19:37,079 --> 00:19:40,989 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. 417 00:19:41,190 --> 00:19:43,889 This is what I call sanctified obstinance. 418 00:19:44,530 --> 00:19:47,569 The author's saying, "Even though the enemy may think 419 00:19:47,569 --> 00:19:49,329 he's got me, he doesn't got me. 420 00:19:50,050 --> 00:19:52,819 I'm going to determine to remember the Word of God. 421 00:19:52,879 --> 00:19:54,659 I'm not jumping ship from the Word of God." 422 00:19:54,999 --> 00:19:57,449 Our second point when we think about what does it look like to be committed to 423 00:19:57,449 --> 00:20:00,519 the Word of God in order to be committed to the God of the Word is this, don't 424 00:20:00,529 --> 00:20:02,679 give up at first signs of struggle. 425 00:20:03,329 --> 00:20:04,840 Don't give up at first signs of struggle. 426 00:20:05,059 --> 00:20:07,919 And listen, if, if you're here this morning and you look at these first two 427 00:20:07,919 --> 00:20:09,290 points and you're going, "I, I'm there. 428 00:20:09,629 --> 00:20:12,539 I'm committed to the Word, I'm in the Word daily, and I'm, I'm not giving up when 429 00:20:12,539 --> 00:20:14,009 it comes to the struggle," praise God. 430 00:20:14,209 --> 00:20:17,890 I, I just hope that this encourages you, that you can say with the psalmist, "Amen. 431 00:20:17,890 --> 00:20:18,840 I know where you're at, psalmist. 432 00:20:19,410 --> 00:20:20,930 I, I'm, I'm there myself, too. 433 00:20:20,930 --> 00:20:24,019 I've, I've tasted and seen the, the good things that you've tasted and seen, too." 434 00:20:25,050 --> 00:20:28,840 But for others of you this morning, m-maybe you, you're there and 435 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,249 you're thinking to yourself, "Okay, pastor, I've done this. 436 00:20:31,819 --> 00:20:32,750 I've read God's Word. 437 00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:35,849 I, I, I've, I've gone through seasons where I'm praying every single day. 438 00:20:36,379 --> 00:20:39,399 I, I've gone through seasons where, man, my, my church attendance has been aced. 439 00:20:39,399 --> 00:20:40,049 I'm, I'm there all… 440 00:20:40,099 --> 00:20:41,229 Every time the doors open, I'm there. 441 00:20:41,230 --> 00:20:42,309 I'm serving in the church. 442 00:20:42,529 --> 00:20:43,899 I'm showing up in my community group. 443 00:20:44,069 --> 00:20:45,020 I'm encouraging other believers. 444 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,270 I'm sharing the gospel with people. 445 00:20:46,370 --> 00:20:50,609 And, and listen, pastor, I had trials just come at me, and right now I'm not 446 00:20:50,620 --> 00:20:54,149 in a good place, and my temptation is to say, 'Is any of it even worth it? 447 00:20:55,669 --> 00:20:56,520 Is this working? 448 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,500 What about the favor that you were talking to me about in the, the first point? 449 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:03,100 I don't feel that right now.'" 450 00:21:06,574 --> 00:21:10,294 Be encouraged because the psalmist knows where you're at, if that's you. 451 00:21:11,754 --> 00:21:13,494 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me. 452 00:21:14,664 --> 00:21:15,524 What are the cords of the wicked? 453 00:21:15,524 --> 00:21:19,123 The cords of the wicked, the idea there is it's, it's a trap set for an animal. 454 00:21:20,364 --> 00:21:22,944 It's like the enemy is the, the hunter and you are the prey. 455 00:21:22,944 --> 00:21:24,713 We talked about that in 1 Peter Chapter 5. 456 00:21:24,734 --> 00:21:28,053 You've got an enemy who's a roaring lou- lion seeking someone to devour, 457 00:21:28,513 --> 00:21:29,824 and you're on the menu, right? 458 00:21:30,144 --> 00:21:33,024 And so he's laid the traps, and the cords of the wicked, for the 459 00:21:33,024 --> 00:21:36,654 psalmist, it feels like they've got him, like they've ensnared him. 460 00:21:37,963 --> 00:21:41,284 This is one of the areas where we should be encouraged if we read Psalm 119, 461 00:21:41,633 --> 00:21:44,264 that this is not written by somebody who didn't go through it in life. 462 00:21:45,304 --> 00:21:48,204 This is not written by somebody who just had an easy street kind of a life. 463 00:21:49,213 --> 00:21:52,804 In fact, if this is King David, think about King David's life for a minute. 464 00:21:52,813 --> 00:21:55,203 There's a good chance that Psalm 119 is King David. 465 00:21:55,203 --> 00:21:56,813 We don't know 100%, but there's a good chance. 466 00:21:56,813 --> 00:21:58,353 But think about King David's life for a second. 467 00:21:58,844 --> 00:22:01,494 So you have David, the shepherd boy, and he's just living his life. 468 00:22:01,494 --> 00:22:05,024 He's got his brothers out there, and along comes Samuel to, to Jesse's 469 00:22:05,024 --> 00:22:09,024 house, and he says to Jesse, uh, "I'm here to anoint, uh, one of your 470 00:22:09,024 --> 00:22:10,343 sons to be the next king of Israel." 471 00:22:10,344 --> 00:22:13,133 And Jesse parades his finest before him, and, and Samuel 472 00:22:13,133 --> 00:22:14,274 says, "Nope, none of these. 473 00:22:14,274 --> 00:22:15,164 Do you have anybody else?" 474 00:22:15,184 --> 00:22:17,444 And Jesse was like, "There's a shepherd boy out there, but don't worry about him." 475 00:22:17,754 --> 00:22:19,573 Samuel's like, "Well, actually, let's worry about him. 476 00:22:19,574 --> 00:22:20,483 Why don't you bring him in here?" 477 00:22:20,493 --> 00:22:24,633 If you're wondering what version this is, this is the PSV, the Pastor's Standard 478 00:22:24,633 --> 00:22:25,824 Version that I'm quoting from here. 479 00:22:26,273 --> 00:22:30,503 Um, and so here comes David, and David comes in and, and Samuel looks 480 00:22:30,504 --> 00:22:31,633 at him and says, "That's the guy." 481 00:22:32,553 --> 00:22:35,774 So David's now the anointed future king of Israel, but the problem is there's 482 00:22:35,774 --> 00:22:37,473 already a king in Israel named Saul. 483 00:22:37,833 --> 00:22:41,323 So David just goes back to his life of shepherding his animals, and next thing 484 00:22:41,324 --> 00:22:44,754 you know, the Philistines draw up for battle, and now Israel and Philistia 485 00:22:44,783 --> 00:22:48,713 are at war with each other, and there's this giant, literal giant named Goliath 486 00:22:48,733 --> 00:22:50,893 who's out there, and he's taunting God. 487 00:22:51,123 --> 00:22:54,293 David, meanwhile, the anointed future king of Israel, he's living 488 00:22:54,294 --> 00:22:55,503 his best life with the sheep. 489 00:22:55,513 --> 00:22:58,173 A- and his dad says, "Hey, David, why don't you go check on your 490 00:22:58,173 --> 00:22:59,174 brothers on the front line?" 491 00:22:59,174 --> 00:23:00,063 So David goes up there. 492 00:23:00,063 --> 00:23:02,633 He happens to hear this giant taunting God. 493 00:23:02,813 --> 00:23:04,324 He says, "This isn't happening." 494 00:23:04,403 --> 00:23:05,294 He goes to Saul. 495 00:23:05,294 --> 00:23:07,403 He says, "Saul, I'll go battle this guy." 496 00:23:07,553 --> 00:23:08,913 Saul says, "Go for it. 497 00:23:08,923 --> 00:23:09,583 Here's my armor." 498 00:23:09,583 --> 00:23:10,513 David says, "No, thanks." 499 00:23:10,513 --> 00:23:12,403 He goes out with his sword or with his sling and his 500 00:23:12,413 --> 00:23:13,934 stones, and he whips it around. 501 00:23:14,043 --> 00:23:14,974 He lets it fly. 502 00:23:15,163 --> 00:23:15,663 Thud. 503 00:23:15,764 --> 00:23:17,613 Nails the giant right in the forehead. 504 00:23:17,613 --> 00:23:18,503 The giant falls down. 505 00:23:18,514 --> 00:23:20,094 David goes out, cuts his head off. 506 00:23:20,283 --> 00:23:21,093 David wins. 507 00:23:21,143 --> 00:23:24,653 Everybody goes wild, and everybody's like, "David's the greatest." 508 00:23:24,663 --> 00:23:26,584 In fact, it even gets better from there, doesn't it? 509 00:23:26,824 --> 00:23:29,743 Because then King David is brought into the service of Saul, and he's conscripted 510 00:23:29,753 --> 00:23:31,263 to be a warrior in Saul's army. 511 00:23:31,264 --> 00:23:34,483 And so David goes out and starts fighting battles, and the people 512 00:23:34,484 --> 00:23:36,434 start singing songs about David. 513 00:23:36,663 --> 00:23:37,764 David is the one. 514 00:23:37,764 --> 00:23:40,713 Saul killed his thousands, but David has killed his ten thousands. 515 00:23:40,883 --> 00:23:44,104 And so David is doing even better for himself now, and things are going 516 00:23:44,104 --> 00:23:48,534 great, and then he's playing the harp for Saul, and Saul picks up a spear and 517 00:23:48,534 --> 00:23:51,413 throws it at him, not once, but twice 518 00:23:53,806 --> 00:23:59,116 David gathers his friend Jonathan, and he says to Jonathan, "Hey, Jonathan, I think 519 00:23:59,116 --> 00:24:00,846 your dad might be a little upset with me. 520 00:24:01,526 --> 00:24:02,456 I think he's trying to kill me." 521 00:24:03,726 --> 00:24:04,846 Jonathan says, "No way." 522 00:24:05,865 --> 00:24:08,466 And so they, they plot to figure out if that's true, and 523 00:24:08,466 --> 00:24:09,856 it finds out, yeah, it's true. 524 00:24:09,886 --> 00:24:11,065 Saul wants to kill David. 525 00:24:11,345 --> 00:24:12,706 He doesn't throw spears at everybody. 526 00:24:12,716 --> 00:24:14,676 He's, he's really trying to hurt David here. 527 00:24:15,515 --> 00:24:20,225 So David takes off on the run from Saul, and David's in the wilderness, and 528 00:24:20,226 --> 00:24:22,896 David's surrounded by his mighty men, which sounds really cool, but if you've 529 00:24:22,896 --> 00:24:26,945 ever read the description of the mighty men, these are the societal outcasts, 530 00:24:27,855 --> 00:24:29,095 and they're the ones that come to David. 531 00:24:29,096 --> 00:24:31,135 And so David's running, and he's hiding in caves. 532 00:24:31,295 --> 00:24:34,946 He even has to take shelter with the Philistines for a moment in time. 533 00:24:36,705 --> 00:24:38,725 Now, think about David in that moment 534 00:24:40,942 --> 00:24:42,232 That the cords of the wicked ensnare me. 535 00:24:43,272 --> 00:24:46,892 Imagine if David had said, "God, this whole you thing is not really 536 00:24:46,892 --> 00:24:47,892 working out for me right now. 537 00:24:48,802 --> 00:24:49,192 I'm out 538 00:24:52,792 --> 00:24:55,982 Whether it's David or not, the psalmist knew what it was to be in a situation 539 00:24:55,982 --> 00:24:57,302 to say, "Lord, what is going on? 540 00:24:57,322 --> 00:24:59,391 This is not the way that things are supposed to be right now." 541 00:25:03,458 --> 00:25:05,218 Christian, you should expect that. 542 00:25:07,098 --> 00:25:09,578 Spiritual warfare, as we've talked about multiple times, is real. 543 00:25:10,998 --> 00:25:13,067 And so maybe you're here this morning and you're thinking to yourself, "I, 544 00:25:13,128 --> 00:25:15,298 I, I don't just expect it, I'm in it 545 00:25:17,422 --> 00:25:18,102 I'm in it. 546 00:25:18,342 --> 00:25:22,362 I, I feel like I've been reading the Word of God, I've been doing the things, 547 00:25:22,362 --> 00:25:27,331 I've been walking after the Lord, I've been praying, and I've got the thorn 548 00:25:27,332 --> 00:25:31,142 in my flesh, or I've got this strained relationship here, or I've got this 549 00:25:31,142 --> 00:25:34,232 incessant pain in my back and the doctors are telling me, "You know what? 550 00:25:34,242 --> 00:25:35,541 You're gonna have to live with this, 'cause there's 551 00:25:35,551 --> 00:25:36,532 nothing we can do about it." 552 00:25:36,711 --> 00:25:40,631 And I'm sitting here saying, "Lord, the valley is too dark right now for me 553 00:25:44,430 --> 00:25:50,220 Circumstances like that might cause even the best of us to say, "Is it worth it? 554 00:25:51,650 --> 00:25:52,220 Is it working?" 555 00:25:55,022 --> 00:25:58,121 But that's why I think the first word in verse 61 is so important. 556 00:25:59,012 --> 00:25:59,812 It says, "Though." 557 00:26:01,742 --> 00:26:03,702 Now, it's not there in the original, but it's implied 558 00:26:05,902 --> 00:26:11,002 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, even if that should happen, though 559 00:26:11,002 --> 00:26:14,211 that should happen, though that should be the reality, though I should be 560 00:26:14,222 --> 00:26:18,871 oppressed and downtrodden, though I should have no earthly hope, I will 561 00:26:18,871 --> 00:26:23,331 not forget your law, your Torah, your instruction, your guidance, your teaching. 562 00:26:23,342 --> 00:26:23,742 Why? 563 00:26:25,672 --> 00:26:27,801 Because it's there that I find the hope that I need. 564 00:26:28,732 --> 00:26:33,461 It's there that I find the comfort that nothing in this world can offer. 565 00:26:34,902 --> 00:26:37,522 And so rather than in the tr- in the valley of the shadow of death, 566 00:26:37,601 --> 00:26:41,091 running from the Word of God, you need to run to the Word of God. 567 00:26:41,591 --> 00:26:44,651 Let me just read for you Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 31, and just listen 568 00:26:44,652 --> 00:26:48,231 to this, and maybe you're in the valley, and listen to these words in the valley. 569 00:26:48,231 --> 00:26:50,912 A- and if you're not in the valley, think back to the last time you were 570 00:26:50,912 --> 00:26:57,112 there, and think about these words as an example of how running to the 571 00:26:57,112 --> 00:27:00,422 Word of God can be such a balm for the soul when you're in that moment 572 00:27:00,422 --> 00:27:02,081 saying, "The wicked have ensnared me." 573 00:27:04,021 --> 00:27:05,821 Paul says, "What then shall we say to these things? 574 00:27:06,541 --> 00:27:08,512 If God is for us, who can be against us? 575 00:27:09,121 --> 00:27:13,551 He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also 576 00:27:13,552 --> 00:27:16,202 with Him graciously give us all things? 577 00:27:17,391 --> 00:27:19,411 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? 578 00:27:19,421 --> 00:27:21,402 It is God who justifies. 579 00:27:21,711 --> 00:27:22,771 Who is to condemn? 580 00:27:22,972 --> 00:27:24,821 Christ Jesus is the one who died. 581 00:27:24,991 --> 00:27:28,021 More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, 582 00:27:28,031 --> 00:27:30,161 who is indeed interceding for us. 583 00:27:30,951 --> 00:27:32,861 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 584 00:27:33,311 --> 00:27:38,101 Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or 585 00:27:38,111 --> 00:27:40,021 nakedness or danger or sword? 586 00:27:40,491 --> 00:27:44,402 As it's written: 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are 587 00:27:44,402 --> 00:27:45,911 regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.' 588 00:27:46,472 --> 00:27:50,901 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 589 00:27:51,301 --> 00:27:55,621 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present 590 00:27:55,622 --> 00:28:00,811 nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all 591 00:28:00,811 --> 00:28:08,351 creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 592 00:28:10,742 --> 00:28:12,942 Nothing in this world will give you that comfort. 593 00:28:14,142 --> 00:28:14,782 Nothing will. 594 00:28:16,422 --> 00:28:20,392 Nothing can cast your mind from the affliction to the, the, the 595 00:28:20,392 --> 00:28:23,272 presence of God and to remind you of your future like the Word of God 596 00:28:25,838 --> 00:28:28,418 Passage that says this light momentary affliction is preparing 597 00:28:28,418 --> 00:28:29,697 for me an eternal weight of glory. 598 00:28:31,158 --> 00:28:33,978 Or even referencing the shadow of death, Psalm 23, "Even though 599 00:28:33,978 --> 00:28:38,628 I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil." 600 00:28:41,038 --> 00:28:41,938 Because you're with me 601 00:28:44,558 --> 00:28:47,068 See, the safest place for the Christian isn't to run away from the Word of 602 00:28:47,078 --> 00:28:49,808 God in times of trouble and to con- conclude that this isn't working. 603 00:28:51,258 --> 00:28:53,607 But rather it's to double down and get even further into the Word of 604 00:28:53,608 --> 00:28:56,618 God during times of trouble, to be reminded and to have your perspective 605 00:28:56,618 --> 00:28:59,607 shaped and to have your hope given and to have your peace provided 606 00:29:02,254 --> 00:29:04,234 That there's something more than what you're going through right now. 607 00:29:05,613 --> 00:29:10,184 That's so secure that nothing in all creation will 608 00:29:10,184 --> 00:29:11,863 separate you from that future 609 00:29:14,350 --> 00:29:16,129 And so we go to the word of God, not away from it. 610 00:29:17,350 --> 00:29:20,490 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law 611 00:29:22,574 --> 00:29:24,964 As we weather the storms, as we press on in our devotion to the 612 00:29:24,964 --> 00:29:28,624 Lord, it's gonna have an inevitable and unavoidable impact on our lives. 613 00:29:28,754 --> 00:29:30,784 It's gonna show up, in other words, in our lives. 614 00:29:32,003 --> 00:29:33,384 Look down at verses 62 through 64. 615 00:29:34,284 --> 00:29:35,194 The psalmist says this. 616 00:29:35,514 --> 00:29:38,683 He says, "At midnight I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules. 617 00:29:39,033 --> 00:29:42,744 I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. 618 00:29:43,094 --> 00:29:45,913 The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. 619 00:29:46,244 --> 00:29:47,943 Teach me your statutes." 620 00:29:48,713 --> 00:29:51,734 In this final section in our passage here, I want us to see a, a three-part 621 00:29:51,734 --> 00:29:54,613 picture of the person who's committed themselves to the Word of God. 622 00:29:55,293 --> 00:29:56,604 This is, in other words, what it looks like. 623 00:29:56,604 --> 00:29:59,543 When we give ourselves over to the Word of God, we wanna commit to the 624 00:29:59,543 --> 00:30:02,313 Word of God, and we wanna commit to the Word of God by committing to His Word. 625 00:30:02,484 --> 00:30:05,713 We wanna commit to the Word of God by, by not giving up, by enduring, 626 00:30:05,713 --> 00:30:08,043 by pressing on, and then we wanna commit to the Word of God by making 627 00:30:08,043 --> 00:30:12,143 sure that it shows up in our life, that we are all in with the Lord. 628 00:30:12,953 --> 00:30:14,214 Final point this morning is this. 629 00:30:14,543 --> 00:30:17,364 Show your love for God's Word through a transformed life. 630 00:30:18,013 --> 00:30:21,933 Show your love, show it, evidence it, for God's Word through a transformed life. 631 00:30:23,153 --> 00:30:26,203 Talked about this illustration before, but it, it's so poignant and so helpful. 632 00:30:26,554 --> 00:30:28,453 It's like going to Hutchins BBQ, right? 633 00:30:29,213 --> 00:30:32,893 You go to Hutchins, and then you always know when somebody has been at Hutchins. 634 00:30:32,963 --> 00:30:33,333 Why? 635 00:30:34,513 --> 00:30:36,263 'Cause they smell like they've been at Hutchins. 636 00:30:36,754 --> 00:30:38,214 And, and we've been to other places too. 637 00:30:38,263 --> 00:30:38,924 Tender's great. 638 00:30:38,934 --> 00:30:40,193 They, they do good pork up there. 639 00:30:40,193 --> 00:30:43,094 We've been to other places too that shall not be named in the presence 640 00:30:43,094 --> 00:30:44,724 of such a, a place as, as Hutchins. 641 00:30:44,754 --> 00:30:47,173 But, but we've been to other places too, and they're good, 642 00:30:47,203 --> 00:30:48,153 but no place is like Hutchins. 643 00:30:48,173 --> 00:30:50,173 No place sticks with you for like 48 hours. 644 00:30:50,693 --> 00:30:52,823 You gotta shower after going to Hutchins. 645 00:30:52,864 --> 00:30:54,823 Like your hair, it gets into the follicles. 646 00:30:54,824 --> 00:30:57,733 Whatever they do there, it just, you just smell. 647 00:30:57,733 --> 00:31:00,383 And if you work at Hutchins, I gotta imagine that you just give up. 648 00:31:00,434 --> 00:31:02,893 You're just like, "I'm just gonna smell like smoked meat for the rest of my life." 649 00:31:03,153 --> 00:31:04,013 Not a bad thing. 650 00:31:04,173 --> 00:31:05,123 Not an awful thing. 651 00:31:05,864 --> 00:31:08,003 But you know somebody's been to Hutchins because you can smell it on them. 652 00:31:08,693 --> 00:31:12,024 We need to be so saturated with the Word of God that people know 653 00:31:12,024 --> 00:31:14,304 we've been with the Word of God because they, they pick it up on us. 654 00:31:15,294 --> 00:31:16,023 They see it in us. 655 00:31:16,513 --> 00:31:17,553 They hear it from our mouths. 656 00:31:18,453 --> 00:31:22,243 They hear it as we give the perspective on what we're going through at this time. 657 00:31:23,353 --> 00:31:24,814 They see the difference in our lives. 658 00:31:25,273 --> 00:31:28,963 They see that God is changing us, that God is making us more like Christ 659 00:31:32,007 --> 00:31:34,027 And so let me suggest to you what a life committed to the 660 00:31:34,027 --> 00:31:35,197 Word of God is gonna look like. 661 00:31:36,338 --> 00:31:38,257 A life committed to the Word of God is gonna look like this. 662 00:31:38,257 --> 00:31:41,017 First, it's gonna evidence a genuine love for the Bible. 663 00:31:41,697 --> 00:31:44,177 It's gonna evidence a genuine love for the Bible. 664 00:31:44,648 --> 00:31:45,697 Notice what he says in verse 62. 665 00:31:46,037 --> 00:31:50,118 He says, "At midnight I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules." 666 00:31:50,678 --> 00:31:52,247 At midnight I rise to praise you. 667 00:31:52,267 --> 00:31:54,408 Now, uh, in first service, uh, this was perfect. 668 00:31:54,428 --> 00:31:56,907 We had a, a baby, and we talked beforehand, and I said, "If you could 669 00:31:56,908 --> 00:32:00,297 just start screaming, uh, right at the time when I get to this point, 670 00:32:00,297 --> 00:32:01,058 that would be really helpful." 671 00:32:01,058 --> 00:32:01,637 And she did. 672 00:32:01,637 --> 00:32:02,517 She did awesome. 673 00:32:02,597 --> 00:32:03,128 Praise God. 674 00:32:03,328 --> 00:32:03,687 Awesome. 675 00:32:04,168 --> 00:32:08,808 Um, but, uh, it was such a, a good reminder to me. 676 00:32:08,937 --> 00:32:12,807 If, if you're a parent, you hear that newborn cry, and it does two things. 677 00:32:12,907 --> 00:32:15,537 Number one, it, it, it just causes you to feel the warm fuzzies about 678 00:32:15,537 --> 00:32:18,097 the, the cuteness of the baby, and also it gives you a little bit of 679 00:32:18,098 --> 00:32:21,697 PTSD 'cause you remember hearing that cry in the middle of the night 680 00:32:21,918 --> 00:32:23,567 and just going, "Oh, sleep is gone. 681 00:32:23,747 --> 00:32:24,357 It's over. 682 00:32:24,528 --> 00:32:26,187 It's time for me to get up," right? 683 00:32:27,567 --> 00:32:30,267 Most times we don't love being woken up in the middle of the night. 684 00:32:31,307 --> 00:32:33,717 O-one of my boys came to me last night and woke me up because he had 685 00:32:33,717 --> 00:32:37,218 a, an ear hur-- ear infection, and, you know, 'cause it's the weekend. 686 00:32:37,218 --> 00:32:39,507 So why not get an ear infection when the doctor's offices are closed? 687 00:32:39,517 --> 00:32:40,077 That's helpful. 688 00:32:41,057 --> 00:32:44,857 But, but while I, I love my son, it, it wasn't great to wake 689 00:32:44,857 --> 00:32:45,877 up to an ear infection, right? 690 00:32:46,367 --> 00:32:48,558 Most of the time, we get woken up in the middle of the night 691 00:32:48,558 --> 00:32:50,567 or a nightmare or something like that, it's not a good thing. 692 00:32:51,568 --> 00:32:53,077 But here the psalmist is woken up. 693 00:32:53,098 --> 00:32:56,297 Notice he says, "At midnight I rise to praise you." 694 00:32:57,028 --> 00:32:57,937 He's not already up. 695 00:32:58,007 --> 00:32:59,157 He's not pulling an all-nighter. 696 00:32:59,757 --> 00:33:02,197 He's awoken by the Word of God. 697 00:33:03,557 --> 00:33:06,537 I, I'm inferring here, but, but I might suggest that maybe he's 698 00:33:06,537 --> 00:33:08,197 even dreaming about God's Word. 699 00:33:08,857 --> 00:33:11,578 You know how a lot of times when you're just obsessing over something, 700 00:33:11,578 --> 00:33:12,667 you start dreaming about it? 701 00:33:14,357 --> 00:33:18,137 Well, I wonder if the, the psalmist, and a- and again, going back to Psalm 1:2, his 702 00:33:18,138 --> 00:33:21,567 delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law, and he meditates day and night. 703 00:33:21,567 --> 00:33:25,017 If that's happening, my guess is that the Word of God is invading his 704 00:33:25,047 --> 00:33:27,677 dreams, and he's being woken up by the Word of God, and he can't help 705 00:33:27,677 --> 00:33:29,477 but to get up and to worship God. 706 00:33:30,877 --> 00:33:32,507 That's a life that loves God's Word. 707 00:33:33,708 --> 00:33:37,917 That's a life that just is saying, "I love the Lord, and I love His Word so 708 00:33:37,918 --> 00:33:39,577 much that it's waking me up at night." 709 00:33:41,806 --> 00:33:43,976 Do you love God's Word so much that you're dreaming about it? 710 00:33:45,296 --> 00:33:47,006 That it's waking you up at night and you're, you're thinking 711 00:33:47,016 --> 00:33:48,166 about scripture when you wake up 712 00:33:50,806 --> 00:33:52,296 I got room to grow there for sure. 713 00:33:53,556 --> 00:33:54,186 But I want that. 714 00:33:54,756 --> 00:33:55,676 I wanna strive after that. 715 00:33:56,866 --> 00:33:59,526 I want others to know that I love God's Word, not just because 716 00:33:59,526 --> 00:34:04,775 I'm a pastor, be- but because I, I actually do love His Word. 717 00:34:05,865 --> 00:34:07,365 I want that to be all of our, our goal. 718 00:34:07,375 --> 00:34:08,395 That's a life committed to the Word. 719 00:34:08,395 --> 00:34:09,965 It's a life that evidences a love for the Word. 720 00:34:09,965 --> 00:34:12,286 Second, it's a life that evidences a genuine love for other 721 00:34:12,286 --> 00:34:14,415 believers, for other Christians. 722 00:34:15,065 --> 00:34:15,656 He says this. 723 00:34:15,656 --> 00:34:21,295 He says, "I am a companion of all who fear you, of all those who keep your precepts." 724 00:34:21,295 --> 00:34:22,206 That's verse 63. 725 00:34:22,676 --> 00:34:24,985 I'm a companion, I'm a friend of those who fear you. 726 00:34:26,485 --> 00:34:29,455 People of the Word naturally gravitate towards people of the Word 727 00:34:31,534 --> 00:34:35,083 If you are living a life that's saturated by God's Word and characterized by 728 00:34:35,083 --> 00:34:37,864 obedience to His Word, you're gonna want to surround yourself by other 729 00:34:37,864 --> 00:34:39,004 people who are doing the same thing. 730 00:34:40,833 --> 00:34:42,804 And the inverse of that, unfortunately, is also true. 731 00:34:43,853 --> 00:34:46,333 If you're living a life where you're not in the Word of God, if you're living a 732 00:34:46,333 --> 00:34:49,464 life where you are, are not walking in faithfulness to Him, then you're not 733 00:34:49,464 --> 00:34:51,234 gonna wanna be around people who are. 734 00:34:52,853 --> 00:34:55,373 And so one of the evidences of our commitment to the Word of God is that 735 00:34:55,373 --> 00:34:56,944 we want to be around other believers. 736 00:34:57,534 --> 00:35:00,143 We wanna be around people that are gonna stir our affections for Christ, 737 00:35:00,143 --> 00:35:02,493 that are gonna cause us to love the Word of God more, and we're gonna 738 00:35:02,493 --> 00:35:03,973 wanna do that in their life, too. 739 00:35:05,883 --> 00:35:09,254 It's one of the reasons why we do community groups here at our church, 740 00:35:09,813 --> 00:35:12,733 to create an environment, to create an atmosphere, to create a place where 741 00:35:12,734 --> 00:35:16,113 you can build relationships with other Christians who love the Bible also 742 00:35:16,323 --> 00:35:19,623 and love the God of the Bible and, and they wanna help you do the same, and 743 00:35:19,633 --> 00:35:21,103 they want you to help them do the same 744 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,799 Who are your closest friends, your closest companions? 745 00:35:27,830 --> 00:35:29,880 Are they people who love God's Word? 746 00:35:30,420 --> 00:35:32,920 Are they people who help you love God's Word more? 747 00:35:33,710 --> 00:35:37,860 Are they people you are spurring on to love the Word of God more as well? 748 00:35:39,529 --> 00:35:41,829 A life committed to the Word evidences a love for other believers. 749 00:35:41,830 --> 00:35:44,199 And then third, and finally, a, a life committed to the Word evidences 750 00:35:44,199 --> 00:35:46,359 a love for learning more of the Word. 751 00:35:47,890 --> 00:35:49,540 A love for learning more of the Word. 752 00:35:50,279 --> 00:35:54,869 Look at verse 64, "The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. 753 00:35:55,210 --> 00:35:56,810 Teach me your statutes." 754 00:35:57,249 --> 00:35:59,220 In other words, everywhere the psalmist looked, he couldn't 755 00:35:59,220 --> 00:36:00,509 help but see evidence of God. 756 00:36:00,999 --> 00:36:02,670 The earth is full of your steadfast love. 757 00:36:02,670 --> 00:36:05,049 And so his conclusion was, "I wanna know you more." 758 00:36:06,549 --> 00:36:08,759 And in that conclusion, he said, "Teach me." 759 00:36:09,990 --> 00:36:10,599 Teach me what? 760 00:36:10,959 --> 00:36:12,009 Teach me your statutes. 761 00:36:12,260 --> 00:36:13,309 Teach me your commandments. 762 00:36:13,569 --> 00:36:14,719 Teach me your Word. 763 00:36:16,519 --> 00:36:19,180 Spurgeon put it this way, he said, "Those who have resolved to obey 764 00:36:19,729 --> 00:36:21,150 are the most eager to be taught." 765 00:36:22,209 --> 00:36:24,129 Those that have resolved to obey … Remember our first point 766 00:36:24,130 --> 00:36:25,399 about committing to the Word of God. 767 00:36:25,599 --> 00:36:28,519 Those that have resolved to obey, that have committed to him, those are the 768 00:36:28,519 --> 00:36:31,589 ones that are most eager to be taught by him, that are most eager to say, 769 00:36:31,589 --> 00:36:33,329 "Okay, Lord, help me understand." 770 00:36:34,929 --> 00:36:37,290 When we give ourselves over to the Word of God, y'all, what it does is 771 00:36:37,290 --> 00:36:40,749 it creates and it, it, it draws us into this, this, this vortex that 772 00:36:40,749 --> 00:36:42,489 This is the cyclical pattern. 773 00:36:43,289 --> 00:36:47,960 It, it, it's like this, I come to the Word of God to know him, and as I come 774 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:51,880 to the Word of God and I learn more about God, it causes me to love God even more. 775 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,869 And because I'm loving God even more, what that's gonna cause me to do is 776 00:36:54,869 --> 00:36:56,929 say, "God, I want to have more of you. 777 00:36:56,929 --> 00:37:00,079 I wanna know you even more than I do, because I wanna love you even more." 778 00:37:00,079 --> 00:37:02,299 And so then we're back into saying, "Lord, teach me more." 779 00:37:02,449 --> 00:37:04,039 And then we're taught more, and then what does that do? 780 00:37:04,039 --> 00:37:05,579 That causes us to love him more. 781 00:37:05,709 --> 00:37:06,380 And then what does that do? 782 00:37:06,380 --> 00:37:07,899 That says, "Man, I wanna know even more." 783 00:37:08,030 --> 00:37:10,729 And here's the great news for you, Christian, you're never gonna get 784 00:37:10,729 --> 00:37:12,759 to the place where you're like, "I need the Bible part two." 785 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:15,359 We're never gonna be done with the Bible. 786 00:37:16,269 --> 00:37:19,610 W- anytime you pick up the Word of God, there's more to be taught there. 787 00:37:20,350 --> 00:37:22,849 You've got the infinite riches of the Word of God that are 788 00:37:22,850 --> 00:37:24,150 contained in the scriptures. 789 00:37:24,959 --> 00:37:27,239 So it doesn't matter where you're at in your walk with Christ, 790 00:37:27,269 --> 00:37:28,999 there's more for us in the w- Word. 791 00:37:29,009 --> 00:37:29,989 There's more for us there. 792 00:37:29,990 --> 00:37:33,440 There's a reason why we can go to it every single day and expect him to 793 00:37:33,449 --> 00:37:37,109 teach us and to instruct us and to cause us to grow each and every day. 794 00:37:38,409 --> 00:37:40,589 So a life committed to the Word shows up. 795 00:37:41,470 --> 00:37:43,360 We evidence our love for the Word 796 00:37:45,464 --> 00:37:47,214 Through our love for the Bible, through our love for other 797 00:37:47,214 --> 00:37:49,974 believers, and through our love for learning more about the scriptures 798 00:37:52,056 --> 00:37:57,165 I'm confident that if you dive into the Word, commit yourself to the Word, it 799 00:37:57,176 --> 00:37:59,866 will have its work done in your life. 800 00:37:59,866 --> 00:38:03,135 And it's not just because I, I say that myself, but because God's 801 00:38:03,136 --> 00:38:04,705 Word even says that of itself. 802 00:38:06,046 --> 00:38:07,695 Psalm 55:10 through 11 says this. 803 00:38:08,405 --> 00:38:10,116 It says, uh, Isaiah 55, excuse me. 804 00:38:10,116 --> 00:38:13,606 "A- a- as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, 805 00:38:13,606 --> 00:38:17,545 but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the 806 00:38:17,546 --> 00:38:22,446 sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. 807 00:38:22,725 --> 00:38:26,975 It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which 808 00:38:27,015 --> 00:38:30,785 I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." 809 00:38:33,176 --> 00:38:35,376 Christian, if you've got the Spirit of God dwelling within you, the Word of 810 00:38:35,376 --> 00:38:36,896 God is gonna do its work in your life. 811 00:38:37,476 --> 00:38:38,786 The Spirit of God is gonna see to that. 812 00:38:39,546 --> 00:38:41,676 The Spirit of God is gonna fulfill this promise in your life. 813 00:38:42,256 --> 00:38:44,676 It's gonna take God's Word and the time that you spend in it, and it's gonna make 814 00:38:44,676 --> 00:38:48,866 sure that there is no wasted time in the Bible, that it will always do something 815 00:38:48,876 --> 00:38:50,815 in your life to make you more like Christ 816 00:38:53,038 --> 00:38:56,858 And so again, commitment, though it's a, a, an increasingly rare 817 00:38:56,898 --> 00:38:59,808 quality in our culture, it shouldn't be increasingly rare in the church. 818 00:39:00,978 --> 00:39:02,408 We should be countercultural in that. 819 00:39:03,548 --> 00:39:06,928 Our commitment to the Word of God, because of our commitment to the God of the Word, 820 00:39:07,128 --> 00:39:08,797 should be front and center for all to see. 821 00:39:10,317 --> 00:39:11,307 That's one of our distinctives, right? 822 00:39:11,308 --> 00:39:16,457 The Bible is central, and that's true of, of our ministries. 823 00:39:16,497 --> 00:39:18,927 We want that to be true, but we also want to be-- that to be true 824 00:39:18,927 --> 00:39:20,158 of our own lives as Christians. 825 00:39:20,167 --> 00:39:23,998 We want the Bible to be central in our lives. 826 00:39:25,488 --> 00:39:27,077 There's no better option out there besides God. 827 00:39:28,427 --> 00:39:32,377 You're never gonna find something that's better than Him, and to be committed 828 00:39:32,378 --> 00:39:33,637 to Him is to be committed to His Word 829 00:39:38,264 --> 00:39:41,814 As I was talking about Isaiah 55 just a second ago, though, one of 830 00:39:41,814 --> 00:39:45,433 the reasons I know that that will be fulfilled in your life is because of 831 00:39:45,433 --> 00:39:46,723 the Spirit of God dwelling within you. 832 00:39:48,654 --> 00:39:51,293 And the only reason that we have the Spirit of God dwelling within 833 00:39:51,294 --> 00:39:53,424 us is because of what we're about to remember right now, which 834 00:39:53,424 --> 00:39:55,354 is the death of Christ for us. 835 00:39:56,764 --> 00:40:02,084 See, apart from God's intervention in sending Jesus Christ, His perfect, 836 00:40:02,084 --> 00:40:06,624 spotless Son, to die on the cross for our sins so that we can be forgiven, and 837 00:40:06,624 --> 00:40:09,824 to rise again three days later so that we would live with Him forever, none 838 00:40:09,824 --> 00:40:13,473 of us in this room stand a chance at understanding really anything about this 839 00:40:15,982 --> 00:40:20,242 But because of the gospel, because of the cross, because God has saved us, 840 00:40:20,242 --> 00:40:23,132 redeemed us, adopted us, and called us His own and given us His Spirit, 841 00:40:23,142 --> 00:40:24,952 now we can come to the Word of God. 842 00:40:25,272 --> 00:40:28,251 We can give ourselves to it, we can read it, and we can be transformed by it 843 00:40:30,966 --> 00:40:33,616 What we're about to do right now, if you're new with us, is something 844 00:40:33,616 --> 00:40:35,796 that is, is for the church. 845 00:40:35,956 --> 00:40:37,526 In other words, it's, it's for Christians. 846 00:40:37,915 --> 00:40:40,206 And so if you're not a Christian, please just let these elements pass by. 847 00:40:41,315 --> 00:40:44,056 This is something where we do this to remember something that God has 848 00:40:44,056 --> 00:40:48,665 done for us, and that is the gift of Jesus Christ, His Son, His body 849 00:40:48,665 --> 00:40:50,636 broken, His blood poured out for us. 850 00:40:51,955 --> 00:40:54,446 And so if you're an unbeliever and you would say, "Yes, I know for sure 851 00:40:54,446 --> 00:40:56,775 that I'm not a Christian," please just let these elements pass by. 852 00:40:57,936 --> 00:41:00,546 If you're here as a Christian, I wanna encourage you two ways during 853 00:41:00,546 --> 00:41:03,586 this time, because the elements are, are passing and we take it together. 854 00:41:03,735 --> 00:41:04,915 I wanna encourage you to do two things. 855 00:41:04,915 --> 00:41:07,926 Number one, I want you to encourage, to encourage you to be thoughtful right now. 856 00:41:09,086 --> 00:41:10,435 It's easy for us to go through the motions. 857 00:41:12,065 --> 00:41:15,395 And so as these elements are passed, uh, you might be thinking about what's coming 858 00:41:15,395 --> 00:41:17,365 up, you might be thinking about Hutchins, you might be thinking about lunch, you 859 00:41:17,365 --> 00:41:20,105 might be thinking about the rest of your day and things that you have to do. 860 00:41:21,235 --> 00:41:24,275 But I wanna encourage you to, to, to try to press pause on all that and to 861 00:41:24,275 --> 00:41:25,676 focus on what these things represent. 862 00:41:26,965 --> 00:41:29,105 The body of Christ broken for you, the blood of Christ poured out for 863 00:41:30,265 --> 00:41:31,775 you, a- and why that was necessary. 864 00:41:32,645 --> 00:41:34,205 And then the second thing I wanna encourage you to do is, 865 00:41:34,225 --> 00:41:35,425 is spend time in confession. 866 00:41:36,725 --> 00:41:39,296 All of your sins were forgiven at the cross, past, present, and future. 867 00:41:40,786 --> 00:41:42,975 But at the same time, it's good for us to keep short accounts with the Lord. 868 00:41:44,006 --> 00:41:46,905 And so before we take the elements, it's good for us to stop and to think 869 00:41:46,915 --> 00:41:49,735 back on our, our lives over the last week or, or however long and say, 870 00:41:49,765 --> 00:41:50,875 "Lord, do I have, do I have sin? 871 00:41:50,875 --> 00:41:53,165 Do I have unconfessed sin in my life that I need to bring to you right now 872 00:41:53,405 --> 00:41:54,456 and lay it at the foot of the cross? 873 00:41:54,456 --> 00:41:56,415 I know that it was already atoned for, it was already paid for, 874 00:41:56,665 --> 00:41:58,935 but I need to confess it and ask for you to forgive me of that." 875 00:41:59,856 --> 00:42:00,836 It's a good thing to do as well. 876 00:42:00,845 --> 00:42:04,085 So the mus- music is gonna play, the elements are gonna be passed, and then we 877 00:42:04,085 --> 00:42:06,685 will take them together as I come back up. 878 00:42:06,685 --> 00:42:11,316 Heavenly Father, we thank you that our standing before you is not 879 00:42:11,316 --> 00:42:13,886 based on our own righteousness. 880 00:42:15,146 --> 00:42:16,695 God, it's not based on our track record. 881 00:42:16,945 --> 00:42:18,165 It's not based on our past. 882 00:42:18,246 --> 00:42:20,465 It's not based on a spiritual resume of ours. 883 00:42:22,315 --> 00:42:26,935 But Lord, our standing before you goes back to what we're remembering right now. 884 00:42:28,835 --> 00:42:33,705 Your act, your initiative, even as we read in Romans 8, that you did not spare your 885 00:42:33,705 --> 00:42:35,925 own Son, but freely gave Him up for us. 886 00:42:38,542 --> 00:42:40,832 But that's the reason that we can say with the psalmist, even back 887 00:42:40,832 --> 00:42:43,022 from our scripture reading, that we have no good apart from you 888 00:42:45,230 --> 00:42:50,850 So God, we thank you for Jesus, that he shed his blood for us, that he died in 889 00:42:50,850 --> 00:42:53,760 our place so that we might be forgiven 890 00:42:56,470 --> 00:42:58,589 His body broken for us, his blood poured out for us. 891 00:42:59,220 --> 00:43:00,759 What a glorious reality that is. 892 00:43:01,700 --> 00:43:06,810 We would be remiss not to say thank you, not just today, but 893 00:43:06,850 --> 00:43:07,999 every single day of our lives 894 00:43:10,350 --> 00:43:13,779 And with those lives, Lord, we wanna live in response, faithful to you. 895 00:43:14,509 --> 00:43:15,360 We wanna pursue you. 896 00:43:15,810 --> 00:43:17,020 We wanna know you more and more 897 00:43:19,648 --> 00:43:22,098 We stop now to remember the death of Jesus on our behalf 898 00:43:25,966 --> 00:43:26,955 Apostle Paul said this. 899 00:43:26,976 --> 00:43:29,786 He said, "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you 900 00:43:32,430 --> 00:43:35,359 That the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when 901 00:43:35,359 --> 00:43:38,399 he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. 902 00:43:38,839 --> 00:43:39,980 Do this in remembrance of me." 903 00:43:40,540 --> 00:43:40,680 Let's eat 904 00:43:50,766 --> 00:43:54,186 In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup 905 00:43:54,186 --> 00:43:55,876 is the new covenant in my blood. 906 00:43:56,476 --> 00:43:59,296 Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 907 00:44:05,230 --> 00:44:08,400 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim 908 00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:10,120 the Lord's death until He comes. 909 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:11,040 Let's pray together. 910 00:44:12,610 --> 00:44:14,090 Heavenly Father, we look forward to this week. 911 00:44:14,100 --> 00:44:16,750 We don't know what's in store for us this week, and we admit 912 00:44:16,750 --> 00:44:17,910 and acknowledge that you do. 913 00:44:18,260 --> 00:44:22,069 We pray that you would help us to pursue you at a, a deeper understanding, a 914 00:44:22,070 --> 00:44:23,520 deeper knowledge of you this week, Lord. 915 00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:26,770 That we would dive more into the Word of God this week, that we would ingest 916 00:44:26,770 --> 00:44:30,370 more of it into our lives, Lord, that we would get ourselves more into it a- as, 917 00:44:30,439 --> 00:44:35,639 as, uh, Lord, we, we apply ourselves to understand the, the greatest gift that 918 00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:39,000 you provided for us outside of Christ, which is the revelation of who you are. 919 00:44:39,699 --> 00:44:41,199 So God, thank you so much for the Bible. 920 00:44:41,460 --> 00:44:42,160 Thank you for Scripture. 921 00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:42,919 Thank you for Jesus. 922 00:44:42,919 --> 00:44:44,160 Thank you for this week in front of us. 923 00:44:44,430 --> 00:44:45,809 We pray that we live it faithful to you. 924 00:44:45,809 --> 00:44:47,190 We pray this all in Jesus' name. 925 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:47,760 Amen. 926 00:44:48,310 --> 00:44:48,350 Amen.