Making God's Word Profitable in My Life - Psalm 19
- tonight is our final evening for studying favorite Bible
passages
- just to let you know, if the Lord tarries, we will probably
do a series like this again because I realize many of us
have other favorite passages that we didn't study in this
particular series
- in fact, someone gave me an index card last week with about
a dozen passages on it
- if you have some you'd like to hear next time around, feel
free to jot them down on a card and I'll keep them on file
- just so that you can be planning, I hope to begin a new
series next week on the fruit of the spirit from Gal. 5
- I would encourage you to read through the chapter and to
begin memorizing some of the key verses in that chapter
- tonight, we want to have our last review of our favorite
Bible passages
- take QUIZ
- in thinking about what verse would be appropriate to study
for this last message on favorite Bible verses, I decided
to look at a verse that talks specifically about the Bible
itself
- a number of our favorite Bible verses have to do with God's
Word
- INPUT - which one comes to your mind?
- tonight - Psalm 19:7-11
- READ (look for what needs to be done to make God's Word
profitable in your life and mine)
- I want to present to you tonight that one of the things
that determines how profitable God's Word is in your life
and mine is:
I. The Way We View The Bible
- you know that the Psalms were written to be sung and
that these songs were part of Israel's public worship
- the way we sang this Psalm tonight would have been very
similar to the way they would have sung it
- question is - why would God want these kind of words to
be put in a song?
- INPUT - how would you answer that question? (to help us
remember, to adjust our thinking)
- let's look at some things these verses wants to remind
us of concerning the Bible
- if you read down through verses 7-9, you'll see that
the Psalmist uses seven different key words to describe
the Bible
- the exact words depend on the Bible version you happen
to be using
- in KJV, the words are perfect, sure, right, pure,
clean, true, righteous
- in studying what those words mean, it becomes apparent
that there is some overlap
- I'm going to combine those 7 words into 4 primary
meanings, and as we go go along, I'll try to explain
where I got those meanings
- David is saying - If the Bible is going to be
profitable in your life, you've got to view it
properly, and that starts by viewing it as:
A. Complete
verse 7 says, the law of the Lord is perfect
1. meaning
complete, sound, whole, entire
2. other example
Josh. 10:13 - "...so the sun stood still in the
midst of heaven, and hastened not to go down
about a whole day"
Lev. 25:10 - "...if it be not redeemed in a whole
year" (redeeming an inheritance)
- so the word means whole, complete, entire
- if we were going to talk about this using
today's words, what would we say about the
Bible? (its sufficient)
- if you're relatively new around here, you may
not be familiar with that word, but its a very
important one
- when we say the Bible is sufficient, that means
it has all the answers we need to handle life's
problems
- we're not talking about problems like 2 plus 2
equals 4
- or, I need a shot of penicillin
- we're talking about non-organic behavioral
problems
- II Peter 1:3 - "According as his divine power
has given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness"
- now I don't think I need to tell you that many
folks who call themselves believers don't
believe in the sufficiency of the Scripture
- the reason we know that is because they've gone
out to secular theories and methods to determine
how to live
- that’s why there's so much in churches today on
self-love and self-esteem, healing of the
memories, co-dependency, etc.
- because folks believe that the Bible
doesn't have the answers necessary to live
in the 1990's
- but that’s not what this verse says (that’s the
wrong way to view the Bible)
- the law of the Lord is perfect (complete,
entire, the whole thing, all we need)
- now you might be here and would say - well, PV,
I agree that the Bible is all I need for
spiritual problems, but I believe man has three
parts (physical, spiritual, psychological)
- possible for a person to be physically well,
spiritually well, and psychologically sick
- medical doctors take care of physical,
pastors take care of spiritual, but Bible
doesn't have anything to do with psychological
- there are several problems with that
1) the Bible doesn't teach that man has three distinct
parts (I'd be happy to talk to you about that later)
2) see the result:
3. the result - converting the soul
- this next minute may get a bit complicated
- just prior to the time of Christ, a group of
scholars translated the OT into Greek - because
of the conquests of Alexander the Great, many
people spoke Greek
- their translation is called the Septuagint (LXX)
- its a very valuable document because it tells us
how people in time period were interpreting the
OT
- when they came to this verse - Psalm 19:7 - they
translated it - the law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the psyche (from which we get our
term psychological, or psychology)
- point is - the Bible knows nothing of this idea
that man has a separate part that the Bible does
not address
- in fact, this verse is saying that the Bible
is so complete, so sufficient - it can
convert, or turn around, any aspect of man
- now that leads us to a question and the question is -
Do you and I view the Bible that way?
- do you believe that the Bible is sufficient?
- what evidence could you give that proves you believe
that?
- is there any evidence that might prove contrary?
- do you, like some believers, rely on supposed truth
from secular disciplines or do you rely on the Bible?
- the law of the Lord is perfect - therefore, I must view
the Bible as being complete
B. Trustworthy
- I'm taking this meaning from two words in these
verses
- the first is the word "sure" in verse 7 (the
testimony of the Lord is sure
- the second is the word "true" at the end of verse 9
1. meaning
please turn to II Sam 4:4
- what word in verse 4 do you believe is the same
as the word "sure" in Psalm 19:7?
- the word "nurse"
- that word was used to describe any kind of
foster care in the Bible
- meant a support, over time came to be used of
anything that could be trusted
- that fits together well with:
2. the result - making wise the simple
- David is saying, just like a nurse who supports
a newborn baby, the Bible supports us and is
therefore trustworthy
- its makes the simple wise
- have you ever thought about this - when it comes to the
issues of life
- where I came from, why I'm here, where I'm going
- how to get along with others, how to communicate
- how to solve problems...
- what would you know about any of those subjects if it
weren't for the Bible
- illus - Fort Wayne - (Doc & I) - thanks - your
ministry has made such a difference in our church
and in our lives
- our response - we didn't come up with these
things - we've just been studying the Scriptures
- see, the question is - when's the last time you thanked
God for the trustworthiness of his word - because it
has nursed us -it has made wise the simple - and it can
continue to do so
- the Bible is complete, its trustworthy
C. Straight
verse 8 says - the statutes of the Lord are right
- verse 9 says - they are righteous altogether
1. meaning
- those words literally mean "straight"
- an example is Jer. 31:9 - "... I will cause them
to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight
way"
- INPUT - what is God emphasizing about His Word
by reminding ud that it is straight?
(provides direction)
- we saw that in Psalm 40:3 - he lifted me up out
of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay - set
my feet upon a rock, and established my goings
- the Bible gives direction
- thats why God describes the unbeliever as being lost
- he just doesn't know which way to go
- chases after this, chases after that -no direction
- unfortunately, that same attribute can be true of
believers who aren't growing
- they don't have any direction
- Oh, they may be busy, but they're not really going
anywhere in terms of where God wants them to go
- their day to day, week to week, month to month routine
doesn't make any measurable difference in the kingdom
of God
- INPUT - what will be the result (on the person) of that
kind of lifestyle? (frustrated, depressed,
unfulfilled)
2. result - rejoicing the heart
- of course the opposite is the person who is
growing in his understanding of God's Word, his
ability to apply God's Word
- that person has direction - that brings great
rejoicing
D. Unblemished
- verse 8 says - the commandment of the Lord is pure
- verse 9 says - the fear of the Lord is clean
- you have the same idea in the Song of Solomon 6:9
where he says - "my dove, my undefiled, is one"
- David wants us to remember - the Bible is
unblemished - its without fault or error
- now you might say - well, my uncle Joe says its
full of errors
- if that’s true, then you have a decision to make -
are you going to believe uncle Joe or Jesus
- Matt. 5:18 - "one jot or title shall in no
way pass from the law, till all be fulfilled"
- you'll also have to decide - should I believe uncle
Joe or the apostle Peter - who said in II Peter
1:21 - "For the prophecy came not at any time by the
will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit"
- you'll have to decide - are you going to believe
uncle Joe or the apostle Paul who said in II Tim.
3:16 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God
(God-breathed)
- see, the Bible is unblemished
- the reason it can claim to be sufficient is because
it is inerrant
- see, we're talking about how you view the Bible
- do you view it as being complete, trustworthy,
straight, and unblemished?
- could you point to clear, concrete evidence that
demonstrates that you have a high view of the Bible?
- now, the next verses give us one way to determine how we we
view the Bible - and that is:
II. How We Value The Bible
- read verse 10
A. Our greatest treasure
- David says - the Bible is to be desired more than
gold, even fine gold
- even in Bible days, they recognized different
qualities of gold
- I Kings 10 tells us of all the gold that Solomon
had, it says that when Solomon had his throne made,
he made it out of ivory and then had it overlayed
with the best gold
- the finest, the most expensive
- David says - I value the Bible as my finest
treasure
- let me ask you tonight - do you value the Bible
that way?
- if I had the powers of sovereignty tonight and
said, you can either leave here tonight with your
Bible - or a million dollars (assuming you couldn't
get another copy), which would you do?
- winning the lottery, or the Bible?
- Now most of us don't have to choose between the
Bible or fine gold, or the Bible or a million
dollars, but we do have to choose between the Bible
and some things
- INPUT - how would you fill in this blank - Time in
God's Word should be more desired than ____________
B. Our sweetest possession
- sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb
- a couple of weeks ago, Nat Rumba brought us a jar
of honey his bees had made
- I'm not much of a honey eater, but I'm quickly
becoming one
- one of the first nights, we had had some folks over
and we had a few of those potato rolls left over
- so I was out in the kitchen later just checking
things out and I thought - I wonder how that honey
would taste on one of those potato rolls?
- have you ever tried that combination?
- just imagine that in your mouth for a minute...
- David says – that’s what I think of the Bible
- its my sweetest possession
- you know, some folks don't value the Bible that way
- the Bible is the rule book
- its the negative book
- its got a sour taste
- but not to David
- he had the right view of its value
- more to be desired are they than gold, yea than
much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and the
honeycomb
- by the way - the quiz we gave tonight would be one
way to measure how valuable God's Word is to you
- I'm sure some folks did very well - why? - because
of the way they value the Word
- so what determines how profitable God's Word is in your
life and mine
- The Way We View the Bible - The Way We Value The Bible
III. The Way We Apply The Bible
A. we're warned
- David says - moreover, by them is thy servant warned
- sure I'm the king, but when it comes to the Bible,
and it comes to God, I'm just a servant, I let God
warn me through his word
- see, I apply it
- INPUT - what is the relationship between point II
and point III?
(the higher I value the Word, the more seriously
I'll take its warnings)
- lets think of it this way:
- let's say a little guy from the 3 year old clubs
comes up to you after the service and pulls on
your pant leg and says - I think the roof's
going to fall in - How would you respond? (pat
him on the head - thanks for the warning)
- let's say a junior higher comes in and says - I
thought I saw a crack in the roof - I think its
going to fall in
- How would you respond to that - (we'll check
that out as soon as we get time)
- tonight is our final evening for studying favorite Bible
passages
- just to let you know, if the Lord tarries, we will probably
do a series like this again because I realize many of us
have other favorite passages that we didn't study in this
particular series
- in fact, someone gave me an index card last week with about
a dozen passages on it
- if you have some you'd like to hear next time around, feel
free to jot them down on a card and I'll keep them on file
- just so that you can be planning, I hope to begin a new
series next week on the fruit of the spirit from Gal. 5
- I would encourage you to read through the chapter and to
begin memorizing some of the key verses in that chapter
- tonight, we want to have our last review of our favorite
Bible passages
- take QUIZ
- in thinking about what verse would be appropriate to study
for this last message on favorite Bible verses, I decided
to look at a verse that talks specifically about the Bible
itself
- a number of our favorite Bible verses have to do with God's
Word
- INPUT - which one comes to your mind?
- tonight - Psalm 19:7-11
- READ (look for what needs to be done to make God's Word
profitable in your life and mine)
- I want to present to you tonight that one of the things
that determines how profitable God's Word is in your life
and mine is:
I. The Way We View The Bible
- you know that the Psalms were written to be sung and
that these songs were part of Israel's public worship
- the way we sang this Psalm tonight would have been very
similar to the way they would have sung it
- question is - why would God want these kind of words to
be put in a song?
- INPUT - how would you answer that question? (to help us
remember, to adjust our thinking)
- let's look at some things these verses wants to remind
us of concerning the Bible
- if you read down through verses 7-9, you'll see that
the Psalmist uses seven different key words to describe
the Bible
- the exact words depend on the Bible version you happen
to be using
- in KJV, the words are perfect, sure, right, pure,
clean, true, righteous
- in studying what those words mean, it becomes apparent
that there is some overlap
- I'm going to combine those 7 words into 4 primary
meanings, and as we go go along, I'll try to explain
where I got those meanings
- David is saying - If the Bible is going to be
profitable in your life, you've got to view it
properly, and that starts by viewing it as:
A. Complete
verse 7 says, the law of the Lord is perfect
1. meaning
complete, sound, whole, entire
2. other example
Josh. 10:13 - "...so the sun stood still in the
midst of heaven, and hastened not to go down
about a whole day"
Lev. 25:10 - "...if it be not redeemed in a whole
year" (redeeming an inheritance)
- so the word means whole, complete, entire
- if we were going to talk about this using
today's words, what would we say about the
Bible? (its sufficient)
- if you're relatively new around here, you may
not be familiar with that word, but its a very
important one
- when we say the Bible is sufficient, that means
it has all the answers we need to handle life's
problems
- we're not talking about problems like 2 plus 2
equals 4
- or, I need a shot of penicillin
- we're talking about non-organic behavioral
problems
- II Peter 1:3 - "According as his divine power
has given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness"
- now I don't think I need to tell you that many
folks who call themselves believers don't
believe in the sufficiency of the Scripture
- the reason we know that is because they've gone
out to secular theories and methods to determine
how to live
- that’s why there's so much in churches today on
self-love and self-esteem, healing of the
memories, co-dependency, etc.
- because folks believe that the Bible
doesn't have the answers necessary to live
in the 1990's
- but that’s not what this verse says (that’s the
wrong way to view the Bible)
- the law of the Lord is perfect (complete,
entire, the whole thing, all we need)
- now you might be here and would say - well, PV,
I agree that the Bible is all I need for
spiritual problems, but I believe man has three
parts (physical, spiritual, psychological)
- possible for a person to be physically well,
spiritually well, and psychologically sick
- medical doctors take care of physical,
pastors take care of spiritual, but Bible
doesn't have anything to do with psychological
- there are several problems with that
1) the Bible doesn't teach that man has three distinct
parts (I'd be happy to talk to you about that later)
2) see the result:
3. the result - converting the soul
- this next minute may get a bit complicated
- just prior to the time of Christ, a group of
scholars translated the OT into Greek - because
of the conquests of Alexander the Great, many
people spoke Greek
- their translation is called the Septuagint (LXX)
- its a very valuable document because it tells us
how people in time period were interpreting the
OT
- when they came to this verse - Psalm 19:7 - they
translated it - the law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the psyche (from which we get our
term psychological, or psychology)
- point is - the Bible knows nothing of this idea
that man has a separate part that the Bible does
not address
- in fact, this verse is saying that the Bible
is so complete, so sufficient - it can
convert, or turn around, any aspect of man
- now that leads us to a question and the question is -
Do you and I view the Bible that way?
- do you believe that the Bible is sufficient?
- what evidence could you give that proves you believe
that?
- is there any evidence that might prove contrary?
- do you, like some believers, rely on supposed truth
from secular disciplines or do you rely on the Bible?
- the law of the Lord is perfect - therefore, I must view
the Bible as being complete
B. Trustworthy
- I'm taking this meaning from two words in these
verses
- the first is the word "sure" in verse 7 (the
testimony of the Lord is sure
- the second is the word "true" at the end of verse 9
1. meaning
please turn to II Sam 4:4
- what word in verse 4 do you believe is the same
as the word "sure" in Psalm 19:7?
- the word "nurse"
- that word was used to describe any kind of
foster care in the Bible
- meant a support, over time came to be used of
anything that could be trusted
- that fits together well with:
2. the result - making wise the simple
- David is saying, just like a nurse who supports
a newborn baby, the Bible supports us and is
therefore trustworthy
- its makes the simple wise
- have you ever thought about this - when it comes to the
issues of life
- where I came from, why I'm here, where I'm going
- how to get along with others, how to communicate
- how to solve problems...
- what would you know about any of those subjects if it
weren't for the Bible
- illus - Fort Wayne - (Doc & I) - thanks - your
ministry has made such a difference in our church
and in our lives
- our response - we didn't come up with these
things - we've just been studying the Scriptures
- see, the question is - when's the last time you thanked
God for the trustworthiness of his word - because it
has nursed us -it has made wise the simple - and it can
continue to do so
- the Bible is complete, its trustworthy
C. Straight
verse 8 says - the statutes of the Lord are right
- verse 9 says - they are righteous altogether
1. meaning
- those words literally mean "straight"
- an example is Jer. 31:9 - "... I will cause them
to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight
way"
- INPUT - what is God emphasizing about His Word
by reminding ud that it is straight?
(provides direction)
- we saw that in Psalm 40:3 - he lifted me up out
of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay - set
my feet upon a rock, and established my goings
- the Bible gives direction
- thats why God describes the unbeliever as being lost
- he just doesn't know which way to go
- chases after this, chases after that -no direction
- unfortunately, that same attribute can be true of
believers who aren't growing
- they don't have any direction
- Oh, they may be busy, but they're not really going
anywhere in terms of where God wants them to go
- their day to day, week to week, month to month routine
doesn't make any measurable difference in the kingdom
of God
- INPUT - what will be the result (on the person) of that
kind of lifestyle? (frustrated, depressed,
unfulfilled)
2. result - rejoicing the heart
- of course the opposite is the person who is
growing in his understanding of God's Word, his
ability to apply God's Word
- that person has direction - that brings great
rejoicing
D. Unblemished
- verse 8 says - the commandment of the Lord is pure
- verse 9 says - the fear of the Lord is clean
- you have the same idea in the Song of Solomon 6:9
where he says - "my dove, my undefiled, is one"
- David wants us to remember - the Bible is
unblemished - its without fault or error
- now you might say - well, my uncle Joe says its
full of errors
- if that’s true, then you have a decision to make -
are you going to believe uncle Joe or Jesus
- Matt. 5:18 - "one jot or title shall in no
way pass from the law, till all be fulfilled"
- you'll also have to decide - should I believe uncle
Joe or the apostle Peter - who said in II Peter
1:21 - "For the prophecy came not at any time by the
will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit"
- you'll have to decide - are you going to believe
uncle Joe or the apostle Paul who said in II Tim.
3:16 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God
(God-breathed)
- see, the Bible is unblemished
- the reason it can claim to be sufficient is because
it is inerrant
- see, we're talking about how you view the Bible
- do you view it as being complete, trustworthy,
straight, and unblemished?
- could you point to clear, concrete evidence that
demonstrates that you have a high view of the Bible?
- now, the next verses give us one way to determine how we we
view the Bible - and that is:
II. How We Value The Bible
- read verse 10
A. Our greatest treasure
- David says - the Bible is to be desired more than
gold, even fine gold
- even in Bible days, they recognized different
qualities of gold
- I Kings 10 tells us of all the gold that Solomon
had, it says that when Solomon had his throne made,
he made it out of ivory and then had it overlayed
with the best gold
- the finest, the most expensive
- David says - I value the Bible as my finest
treasure
- let me ask you tonight - do you value the Bible
that way?
- if I had the powers of sovereignty tonight and
said, you can either leave here tonight with your
Bible - or a million dollars (assuming you couldn't
get another copy), which would you do?
- winning the lottery, or the Bible?
- Now most of us don't have to choose between the
Bible or fine gold, or the Bible or a million
dollars, but we do have to choose between the Bible
and some things
- INPUT - how would you fill in this blank - Time in
God's Word should be more desired than ____________
B. Our sweetest possession
- sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb
- a couple of weeks ago, Nat Rumba brought us a jar
of honey his bees had made
- I'm not much of a honey eater, but I'm quickly
becoming one
- one of the first nights, we had had some folks over
and we had a few of those potato rolls left over
- so I was out in the kitchen later just checking
things out and I thought - I wonder how that honey
would taste on one of those potato rolls?
- have you ever tried that combination?
- just imagine that in your mouth for a minute...
- David says – that’s what I think of the Bible
- its my sweetest possession
- you know, some folks don't value the Bible that way
- the Bible is the rule book
- its the negative book
- its got a sour taste
- but not to David
- he had the right view of its value
- more to be desired are they than gold, yea than
much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and the
honeycomb
- by the way - the quiz we gave tonight would be one
way to measure how valuable God's Word is to you
- I'm sure some folks did very well - why? - because
of the way they value the Word
- so what determines how profitable God's Word is in your
life and mine
- The Way We View the Bible - The Way We Value The Bible
III. The Way We Apply The Bible
A. we're warned
- David says - moreover, by them is thy servant warned
- sure I'm the king, but when it comes to the Bible,
and it comes to God, I'm just a servant, I let God
warn me through his word
- see, I apply it
- INPUT - what is the relationship between point II
and point III?
(the higher I value the Word, the more seriously
&
