2011 Gold Rush
(More Precious Than Gold)
TCF Sermon Text
July 17, 2011
If you had a fire that destroyed everything, and you could save just a few things, what would you save? Unfortunately, we have a few families here in this church who understand that question from real-life experience, and not rhetorically, like the rest of us would.
Would you save your TV? Would you save your clothes? Would you save your furniture? Your appliances?
No, I think most people would tell you that, first, they’d make sure their loved ones were all safe. Then, I think, if they could do so safely, they would save things that represented important memories of loved ones – things that spoke something about people and memories: pictures, rings, mementos.
These important things represent a person, a relationship. They tell part of the story of that person’s life and our relationship with them. All the other things are replaceable.
But some of these things we’d prioritize in saving are not replaceable. There are things in our lives that we consider to be of great value. Absolutely precious to us. In the words of one commercial – priceless. More valuable than the things the world would normally consider valuable. More valuable than diamonds, or riches, or gold. We protect those things we value greatly. We miss them when they’re gone. These are the things in our lives that are precious – like family and relationships, and things that relate to those.
Just a few weeks ago, the VBS theme was Gold Rush. The idea was that the Rock of Ages, Jesus our Lord, is the most valuable thing we can know, or attain to, or desire. Much more valuable and precious than gold or silver or any material thing.
We can all think of those things that are precious to us. If you’ll turn with me to our scripture text this morning, we’ll read about something that’s more precious still, more to be desired than any of those things we could think of this morning.
Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from
the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
David, the psalmist, imagined the most precious thing, the most costly thing of his day. Gold - not just any gold, but a lot of it...and very pure gold. And essentially, what he’s saying in this Psalm, is that even though it’s true that gold is precious, it’s something that is desired, yearned for, longed for, very valuable, the Word of God is more precious still. It’s more to be desired, yearned for, longed for, than the most precious thing we could think of.
Now, if it’s true that the Word of God truly is more precious than gold, or as the New American Standard says, “more desirable than gold,” why would anyone need to encourage us to read it, study it, or hear it preached, or memorize it?
If someone came in here with a pile of money amounting to over $1 million...and said, it’s yours, do with it whatever you will....how much encouragement would we need to take it, use it, spend it?
I believe there are a couple of reasons we need a constant reminder to use, to take advantage of, this precious gift God has given us in His Word.
One idea is that abundance often causes complacency. We have an abundance of Bibles. Most of us have a couple dozen in our homes, different translations, different sizes. We have children’s bibles, men’s study bibles, women’s study bibles, teen study bibles, you name it, we have it.
Now, there’s certainly isn’t anything wrong with having all these kinds of bibles in our homes. I think it’s great, and I’m thankful for the abundance we have. But it’s ironic that in so many of our homes, we have so many Bibles, and so many of us don’t use them regularly.
Research shows that the majority of all born-again Christians read the Bible once or twice a week, or not at all. According to one study, only 18% of all Christians said they read the Word every day. Another 18% read the Bible between three and six days a week. 37% read it once or twice a week. 23% of Christians don’t read their Bible at all.
I don’t know where you fit into these statistics, and I don’t want a show of hands. But as we look at David’s Psalm here this morning, in which he outlines for us why God’s word is so precious, so much to be desired, think honestly, before God, where do you fit into these statistics?
Now, I do not want to get legalistic here this morning. There are clearly benefits to reading the Word, as we’ll see this morning. Yet, you can’t earn any favor with God by reading your Bible. But if you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, why wouldn’t you want to know Him better?
The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself – it’s how we get to know Him better. Reading the Word is not just for preachers. I don’t read the Word just so I can preach it to you. I read the Word for me... because I need it.
Why do I need it? Why do you need it? David tells us why, at least in part, in these few short verses. In verse 7 of our text, David writes that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
Now, let’s consider for a moment this word “law.” It’s not a word that excites us very much, because to us, it usually means restrictions, rules, regulations. We think of it as something that tells us what we can’t do. And of course, that’s true for many laws. We can’t drive 150 miles an hour on the highway. We can’t allow our 5 year old children to drive cars.
The law also tells us what we must do. We must have our children under 18 in school, either public, private or home school. We must have a license to practice medicine. Although I must say, I wish you doctors would do your practicing before you get to me – when you get to me, I don’t want you practicing, I want you doing medicine.
So, the common denominator of most secular laws, and most biblical law, is protection and instruction. And that’s what law means here. The Hebrew word torah means direction, instruction, teaching.
So, we see law as traffic laws, criminal laws, civic laws, etc. But in the Bible, law means the “way to walk” – or how we live our lives.
Psalm 119:1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to (that is, they live their lives according to) the law of the LORD.
The word can refer to the whole of the “law” or to particulars. So, the law that says we can’t drive 150 miles an hour on the highway, is teaching us something...especially when we consider why we have it. It’s telling us we’ll have a harder time controlling our vehicles, our reaction time is compressed, it’s more dangerous to you and to others to drive that fast. So it’s against the law.
The law here is protective - it’s instructive. One commentary noted about the torah:
The central idea of torah is that of instruction received from a superior authority on how to live. Torah in the Old Testament came to mean the way of life for faithful Israelites. The Torah is more than just “laws”; it includes the story of God’s dealing with humankind and with Israel.
That brings us to another important point about this passage in Psalm 19. It reveals to us a God who’s made a covenant with the people of Israel, and when we consider the whole of scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, it reveals God’s character and faithfulness in dealing with all people, starting with His chosen people, the Jews, and then with the rest of mankind, through the sacrifice of Jesus.
Think about this. God reveals Himself to us through His Word. It’s a simple but profound thing for us to note: Knowing God is the most important thing in life. More important than material possessions. More important than any other relationship. More important than food, clothing or shelter.
Because God created us fundamentally for a relationship with Himself, we need to have a way to know Him. To know Him, He must reveal Himself to us.
He does this for everybody in part through general revelation, which is found in creation, and human experience. We won’t read the whole thing this morning, but this Psalm, Psalm 19, is clearly about God’s revelation – His revealing of Himself, His nature, His character. The first six verses speak of God’s revelation in creation.
Psalms 19:1-2 (NIV) The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
Then, the verses we read this morning, vv 7-11, speak of God’s revelation in His Word.
The last part of this Psalm, vv. 12-14, shows David’s response to what he’s written about in the previous verses.
So, the psalm first looks at God’s natural, general revelation, in His acts of creation, and then, His specific revelation in the Word, and finally, this brings from David a response of self-examination.
The Bible is God’s (specific) written revelation of who He is and what He has done in redemptive history. Through God’s written Word, his people may overcome error, grow in sanctification (that is, be changed into the image of Christ), minister effectively to others, and live abundant lives as God intends. ESV Study Bible
I’d encourage you to read this whole Psalm this week and look for these things.
Back to our main text, vv. 7-11
When we think of the law, we often think of something that keeps us from having fun. But here we see the opposite—law that revives us, makes us wise, gives joy to the heart, gives light to the eyes, warns us, and rewards us. That’s because God’s laws are guidelines and lights for our path, rather than chains on our hands and feet. They point at danger and warn us, then point at success and guide us. Life Application Commentary
Now, it’s important to note, too, that while the different words that David uses to describe God’s Word do describe slightly different aspects of God’s revelation, essentially, they’re used as synonyms. That is, a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word... such as joyful, elated, glad.
So, when David says law, testimony or statutes, precepts, commandments, judgments, with all these words, he’s referring to God’s Word, the scriptures of His day. For example, in verse 7, where the NIV says statutes, and the NAS and KJV say testimony, we have to recognize how these words were used in Hebrew, and their context in the OT.
In Exodus 25:16, the stone tablets brought down from the mountain by Moses are called “the testimony,” and the ark, or container, used to carry these tablets is referred to as the ark of the testimony. They’re the testimony, because though we might think of them as rules, they do speak, as in a testimony, of God’s wisdom, of His love for us, of His covenant with us, or His protection for us.
So, I guess I’m saying we needn’t look for too many distinctions between the various words David uses here in Ps 19 to describe the word of God.
“from a poetic perspective, these terms may be seen as synonymous, though from a theological perspective, they may be seen as all-embracing. In every sense and dimension, the Lord’s Torah is good: it is perfect, sure, upright, pure, radiant and true.” Word Biblical Commentary
Even the word “fear,” though an unusual word to be used synonymously with law, is, in fact, used that way here. David writes of the fear of the Lord, that it’s “enduring forever.” David’s telling us that this Word of God is a permanent foundation for human life.
Fear is here a synonym for the Law, because its purpose was to put fear into human hearts and thus impact the way we live.
Deut. 4:10 "Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, 'Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear (or revere) Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.'
David also writes of the excellence of God’s Word. He describes it as “perfect.” When this Hebrew word is used of God, it points to the perfection of his righteousness and faithfulness – His utter dependability. Put another way, when something is perfect, it’s all we need. The Word of God doesn’t say everything there is to know about everything, but it’s sufficient for what we need to know, in order to know God, and to follow Him and to serve Him. It’s His written self-revelation. Reading again from Psalm 19:
Psalms 19:7-8 (NLT) The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living.
God has given His people sufficient revelation about Himself so that we can know Him, trust Him, and obey Him.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NIV) … from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
This is a key point:
Believers should find freedom and encouragement in the knowledge that God has provided all of the absolutely authoritative instruction that they need in order to know Him and live as He intends. God’s people should never fear that He has withheld something they might need Him to say in order for them to know how to please Him, or that he will have to somehow supplement His Word with new instructions for some new situation that arises in the modern age. (The NT allows for the activity of the Holy Spirit in leading and guiding individuals, as in Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:16, 18, 25; but this guidance is always in line with Scripture, never in opposition to scriptural commands.) Therefore believers should be satisfied with what Scripture teaches and what it leaves unsaid. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29). ESV Study Bible
This perspective is incredibly important for us to grasp and hold onto. I read a story this week of someone who was in a well-known Christian church that encouraged people to rely more heavily on their spiritual intuition than on the word of God.
She wrote:
I spent months immersing myself into (this church’s) teachings and music. I started engaging in what is called ‘soaking’. Soaking is a practice of opening your mind and spirit to the “lord” (while) listening to loungy “Christian” music. I gave up reading my Bible…because I wanted new revelations from God. I had heard mentioned in so many sermons that the Bible was being superseded by new revelations. The people who only read the Bible were called “wordies” and these people (the “wordies”) were setting themselves up against the new spiritual move of “god”. The new spiritual movement was more important than the information in the Bible. So I gave up my regular bible reading and embraced soaking.
King David, who wrote Psalm 19, says the Word of God is sure, or trustworthy. He tells us the word is perfect. He was clearly a wordie. I’m a wordie too. This is a wordie church.
The Word is our firm foundation, and nothing else can replace that foundation. When David wrote that the Word of God is sure, this means, firm or faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet; moral, to be true or certain; it means we can count on it, rely on it, depend on it. We cannot say the same about other ways we might hear from God.
Perhaps the greatest news, to us, about what David is describing in Psalm 19, are the benefits of God’s revelation to us in His Word. In v. 7, he writes that this perfect law of God revives the soul. Other translations say it restores, or converts, the soul.
Let’s face it. Our souls need revival.... whether we walk wholeheartedly with God or not. Our souls need regular restoration. Life can be tough. It can wear us down, it can discourage us.
When we’re physically worn out, what do we need? We must be physically revived. We need rest, and food and water – don’t we? When we’re spiritually or emotionally worn out, we need the spiritual food, the spiritual sustenance, the spiritual rest, the restoration and revival, that only God’s Word can bring us.
The Word of God provides nourishment for our souls. And it’s not the spiritual junk food we often feed our souls in an effort to restore and revive ourselves. Jesus said that we can’t live on bread alone, but on the Word.
Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
And it’s interesting to note that, in providing this counsel to us, Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy, He was quoting the Word of God. He was commending the Word of God as our source of nourishment, even as He was quoting the Word of God to prove His point.
Many things in the world promise to nourish our souls, to restore and revive us. In truth, only God’s Word can truly accomplish this. In the second half of verse 7, we see another incredible benefit to God’s Word: “it makes wise the simple.”
This is where the understanding of the Hebrew word “torah,” which is translated “law,” comes in. Remember, torah means instruction, direction, teaching. It provides wisdom that we need to survive, and the wisdom we need to thrive.
There’s wisdom in the law that keeps five year olds from driving cars...wouldn’t you agree? Without that wisdom, what would we have? Little kids who not only can’t see over the steering wheel, but they can’t read road signs, they can’t make judgments in traffic situations, trying to navigate a couple of tons of steel down the road...putting her own life and everyone else’s in danger.
Over time, though, with instruction, with physical and emotional growth, with age and growing wisdom and maturity, that little 5 year old will have grown to be old enough to get behind the wheel, and avoid the hazards to himself and everybody else.
We can take that example and apply it to spiritual things. Five year olds are simple, aren’t they? That doesn’t mean stupid, it means, in our analogy here, there are some things they haven’t learned yet, or developed the capacity to fully understand their actions.
But we don’t leave them there. We teach, we instruct, we coach, we help them learn. Imagine the young Christian, like that 5 year old child. He or she doesn’t understand the potential dangers of spiritual life. He or she doesn’t quite grasp the right way to do things. What do we encourage them to do?
Do the basics. Read the Word. Hear it preached and taught. Memorize it. Pray. Fellowship. Fully invest in a church.
Of course, it’s not just young Christians that need this nurturing the Word of God brings.
St. Jerome said: "The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning, and deep enough for theologians to swim in without ever touching the bottom"
Related to wisdom in vs 7, is what we see in vs. 8, where it says the Word “enlightens the eyes.” It helps us see clearly. The Word lights our path. It illuminates spiritual danger, and, it outlines the right paths toward Godly things....Godly behavior, Godly relationships.
The Word reveals dimensions in truth and reality that we cannot see without it. Pastor and author John Piper says,
A wise person is a person whose life makes sense in the light (the "enlightening") of reality. So for example, self-denial will look foolish, and laying up treasures on earth will look wise only if you are in the dark about the reality of heaven (Luke 12:33) and the danger of riches (Mark 10:25) and the rewards of sacrifice (Matt. 19:29). But if you live in the light of the reality of heaven, and the reality of the danger of riches, and the reality of the staggering rewards of sacrifice, then it makes sense to obey the command of the Lord to deny yourself for his sake. It is the path of wisdom. And where is the light of reality shining? Where do we go to get out of the kingdom of darkness? We go to the Word of God. All day long unreality is being preached to you by the secular voices of the land. God is the Essential Reality. Everything disconnected from God is unreal in the way it was meant to function. Therefore a world without God (our world!) is mainly an unreal world. Dazzling darkness. Dazzling, dizzying, deadly darkness. How do you escape? The commandment of the Lord gives light to the eyes. The testimony of the Lord makes wise the simple. Wisdom is a life that makes sense in the light of reality. And the light of reality shines from the Bible, not from the God-ignoring world.
Finally, the Word of the Lord brings joy. It’s one of the many rewards referred to in vs. 11. We see in vs. 8, that because the Word is right, it gives joy to the heart. Who doesn’t want joy? None of us wants to live a gloomy existence, or even just get by in life .... isn’t that right?
Joy is not dependent on circumstances - good feelings dependent on circumstances is just happy, which is OK as far as it goes, but is fleeting. But joy is dependent on God.
David tells us that the Word of God brings joy. It’s the best source of deep and lasting joy.
And that brings us back to the beginning. It’s such a great source of joy, of direction, of truth, that David saw the Word as the most precious thing he could picture, the thing he desired most, above the happiness that riches of gold could bring, above the physical pleasure and sweetness that such a great treat as honey could bring.
So, I’ll ask you again, where do you fit into those statistics we read earlier? Are you one of the 23% who never read the Word? Based on what we’ve seen in this Psalm, we could only classify you as foolish, to ignore the wisdom, the enlightenment, the revival, the nourishment, the warnings, the rewards, the joy.... these things that come only from God’s Word.
The more you use your Bible, the more you get it into your mind and your spirit, the more valuable it is to you, to your spirit, to your soul.
How do we respond? There are a lot of ways we could respond – and I hope you’ll ask God as we close in a moment how you should respond to this word today. But we’d like to highlight a specific opportunity for you to respond, and I’d like Jody McEndarfer to come and share how memorizing passages of scripture has impacted her life.
Jody comes
Highlight program (back of bulletin)
Pray
