GUIDED BY GOD’S WORD
The Bible is a book beyond all books as a river is above a stream. The Bible is a book beyond all books as the sun is above and beyond a candle in brightness. The Bible is a book beyond all books as the wings of an eagle is above and beyond the wings of a sparrow. It is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, inexpressible in value, immeasurable in influence, infinite in scope, divine in authorship, human in penmanship, regenerative in power, infallible in authority, universal in interest, personal in application, and inspired in totality. This is the Book that has walked more paths, travelled more highways, knocked at more doors and spoken to more people in their mother tongue than in other book this world has ever known or will know -- Dr. R. G. Lee
Today we are concluding our series “The Greatest Book.” God's Word provides us with the guidance we need … provided we utilize it. Today we will look at a passage in Scripture that does two important things for us: It tells us WHY God's Word is the best guide through life and also tells us HOW to make God's Word our guide through life.
Psalms 119:97-104 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. 101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
David begins by extolling his love for God's Word. His love for it is shown by His meditation on it. We talked about this 2 weeks ago. The Hebrew word for meditate has the idea of rehearsing or going over again and again. I like the analogy of “marinating” in God's Word—soaking it up and allowing it to seep deeply into our lives.
Why should we join David in loving and meditating in God's Word? Why should we read the bible? We should love it because it is the best guide we have to get us through life.
a. It's better than your enemies (v. 98)
David contrasts God's Word with three alternatives; three other places people look for guidance. He begins by saying the bible is a better guide than listening to our enemies. Enemies are those who are hostile towards us, those who attack us. You may be thinking, "Who looks to their enemies for guidance on how to live?" Actually, a lot of people do. They resort to level of enemies. People say things like “Well if they are going to play hardball; then so are we!” God's Word makes us “wiser” than our enemies. The Hebrew word used here has idea of skill. I other words, the bible gives us a better way than the way of our enemies.
Years ago in Haifa there were a gong of smugglers who would use donkeys to transport items into Israel. During one sting operation the caravan of donkeys was intercepted but the smugglers got away. However, the policeman who was on the case knew his bible. Isaiah 1:3 says “The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
He simply starved the donkeys for a few days and then let them go and sure enough they went all the way back to their owners hideout and the smugglers were caught.
b. It's better than your educators (v. 99)
Many people look to those who are educated or influential for advice. The bible has many teachers within it’s pages. Paul calls himself a teacher in 2 Timothy 1:11. However, human teachers are fallible and can be mistaken. God's Word gives “understanding” that is inspired and authoritative. It is better than the wisest words that man can give.
Most people in the teaching profession today, especially in college or higher education, have a vastly different worldview than you do. College professors are at least five times more likely to identify themselves as atheists than the general public. More than half of all college professors view evangelical Christian students unfavorably.
Years ago Ben Stein made a film called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed showing how academic freedom is being suppressed in North American colleges and Universities. He interviewed many teachers who were not hired or fired for even exploring the possibility of intelligent design and for not supporting Darwinism. I recommend you see it!
c. It's better than your elders (v. 100)
Many people also look to those who are older and more experienced in life. The bible says that we are to honour those who are older. However, the bible is a better guide than the wisest of our elders. Just because a person is old does not mean they are mature in their faith.
Even mature believers or people we highly respect can often be wrong in their interpretation of biblical truth. C.S. Lewis was a great writer. I had a chance to se his book the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe acted out on the Logos Hope last week. For all his wisdom, he believed in Purgatory, meaning that Christians may undergo a period of purification after death before entering heaven.
Even the reformer Martin Luther who started the protestant reformation held anti-Semitic beliefs that were very wrong. That is why the idea of Sola Scriptura (the bible alone) is so important. Only the bible is our ultimate source for truth and Christian living.
What does all this mean? The bible is the best guide through life, but only if we let it guide us. That's why the final four verses of this section of Psalm 119 call us to let the Bible guide our lives.
How do we do that? You say, “What exactly does that look like to let God's Word guide my life?”
David talks about four things that he did to let God's Word guide him. We all need to do the same four things.
1. RESIST the pull to go away from God's Word
Psalm 119:101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.
The idea here is to hold yourself back or to restrain yourself. David is bringing out a critical truth that we all have to be aware of. Just because something makes sense to us does not mean that it makes sense to God. The world around us presents many different paths to happiness and satisfaction in life, but they all fall short. Following your feet or following your feelings is often the worst thing to do. If you follow your feet or your feelings, you will probably wind up on some evil paths.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
A few years ago I had the chance to visit Israel. One day I wanted to go to the Mount of Olives and walk down through Gethsemane into the Old City. The taxi driver took me there but then asked “are you sure this is where you want to get out.” Thinking I knew what I was doing I said yes, but then got turned around and went the wrong way into a Palestinian area. I noticed as I walked along that people were staring at me. An older man came out from a shop and said out loud “My friend, I am so glad you are here.” When he came near he said “you are in the wrong part of town, if you stay here someone will kill you. Let me take you to the right place” and then he walked me down the road and pointed me in the right direction. I thought I knew what I was doing, but that was a big mistake.
So what do you do when your feelings urge you to head down a path against God's Word? Rely on the Holy Spirit's power to override your feet and your feelings. Let God's Spirit help you to say what David says in vs 105
Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
2. REMAIN on the path you learn in God's Word
Psalm 119:102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
The Hebrew word for depart means to turn aside or change directions. What David is saying here is that once you get on the right path it requires concentration and effort to stay on it. You need to refuse to get off it. Don't wander off.
Living the Christian life is like driving a car. I know that they are working on self driving cars, but they are not there yet. Driving my car requires constant focus and attention. You cannot just take your hands off the steering wheel and think that it is going to keep going straight. It has the natural tendency to want to drift to one side of the road or other. The human heart is like that.
Romans 7:18-19 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.
Getting to the right road is one thing, but staying on the right road is another.
Verse 102 gives the reason to remain on the path: “you, yourself have taught me.” In other words, what the Bible says God says. See your reading of the Bible as a personal tutoring session with God. Echo David's words in Psalm 25:4-5.
Psalms 25:4-5 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
There is a tale told of that great English actor William Macready. An eminent preacher once said to him: "I wish you would explain to me something." "Well, what is it? I don’t know that I can explain anything to a preacher." "What is the reason for the difference between you and me? You are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth, and I am not getting any crowd at all." Macready’s answer was this: "This is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction."
Staying on God’s path means that the bible has the final say in our lives. We cannot add anything to it and we dare not try to remove anything from it.
Benjamin Franklin loved getting into heated debates with people. Often people would ask him to back up his ideas. He would tell them to give him a day and then he would go to the printing press he had in his home. He would set up type in the style of the bible and print out a sheet and insert it into his bible which expressed his position in biblical language. The next day he would meet with his opponents and say “you must admit that I am right, for right here in the book of John it says …”
3. REFRESH yourself with the sweetness of God's Word
Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
David did not see meditating and following God's Word as a task but as a treat. He says it is like eating honey. We need to remember that we have a lot more sugar in our diet than they did thousands of years ago. Back then, eating honey was a rare treat. It was something to look forward to.
Some of us need to develop a taste for God's Word. There are so many artificial sweeteners in the world today that seek our attention. There are times our taste buds can become addicted to artificial taste of newspaper or novels. We need to ask God to give us a sweet tooth for His truth. Take a section from your Bible reading and savour it throughout the day; pop it into your mind and let it sit there; savour it all day long.
Back in 1986 I had the opportunity to go on my first missions trip to Bolivia. I was invited to go to a wedding being held outside Santa Cruz and I went. They served the meal with some salad. I knew I should not eat it but I did not want to offend the people. Sure enough the next day I got sick. I was very ill for about a week and had to get fluids intravenously. As I lay there on my little bed I was miserable. The bed was short and my feet stuck out the end and they had lots of fleas so my ankles were getting flea bites, so I had to put two flea collars on my ankles to keep the fleas away. I had no one to talk to, was sick and missing home. I turned to the one thing I had with me, my bible. As I read it the words came alive and I started seeing things and understanding things I never had before. I was a tremendous source of comfort and strength to me during those difficult days.
Years ago the editor of a newspaper in London sent a letter to 100 of the most influential people in England. The letter asked simply “if you were sent to prison for 3 years and could only take one book with you to read, what book would you take?” 98 of them chose the bible. Even though not all were Christians, they recognized the bible was the best book to cheer and comfort and help them through their dark days.
4. RESHAPE your affections to line up with God's Word
Psalm 119:104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
As we spend time reading the bible and meditating on it, eventually the Holy Spirit will begin reshaping our perspective on life. We will see our affections changing. Like David we will actually begin to hate wrong paths. Word for wrong has the idea of that which is false or deceptive. It promises fulfillment but does not deliver. It only leads to a dead end. David hated to see himself or others get deceived into following them.
Where are you at today? Are you reading your Bible? Five hundred years ago the church went through reformation over a simple principle – Sola Scriptura (the bible alone). Today we have the bible in many different translations. It is available to all, but are we reading it?
In April 1860, the famed Pony Express began using horse and rider relay teams to shuttle mail along a 2,000-mile route between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. 40 men rode 50 miles a day on the best horses that money could buy. To conserve weight, clothing was very light. Saddles were small and no weapons were carried. The mail had to be light and written on thin paper. Postage was $5 an ounce! Yet, in spite of all the weight restrictions, each rider always carried a full sized bible’
On commencing employment, a Pony Express rider was given one of the special edition Bibles. The rider had to swear to and sign the frontier pledge of loyalty, honesty, and sobriety, that was on the inside front cover of the Bible:
I do hereby swear, before the Great and Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God. --?Oath sworn by Pony Express Riders
I want to encourage you today to make the bible a priority. I know that you have lots of things in your life that keep you busy. Like the riders of the pony express you have to choose carefully the things that you carry through life. Make sure you do not neglect the most important thing. If you are going to cut back that is fine, just make sure that you do not cut back in the area of bible study.
