NUN - Psalms:119:105-112
AN AGNOSTIC COLLEGE PROFESSOR visited the Fiji Islands and critically remarked to an elderly chief, ’You’re a great leader, but it is a pity you’ve been taken in by those missionaries. They only want to get rich through you. No one believes the Bible anymore. They know better now. I am sorry that you have been so foolish to believe them’.
The old chief’s eyes responded, ’Do you see that great rock over there? On it we smashed the heads of our victims and we roasted their bodies in that furnace next to the rock. If it hadn’t been for the missions and the love of Jesus that changed us you’d never leave this place alive! You had better thank the Lord for the Gospel; otherwise we’d already be feasting on you.’
1. Tonight we will see how David recognizes how important the Word of God is in a person’s life. Verse 105 is one of the most familiar of the 176 verses of this Psalm and along with verse 11 help to form our pledge to the Bible.
Q-How many tonight are planning on driving home without their headlights? LOST ON VACATION IN PARK…nighttime….tall trees around dirt road….headlights off
How would driving with the lights off effect your trip home? Slower, increased chance of accident, danger to others, considered a foolish choice: Many make this decision each day of their lives by not placing a high priority on God’s Word.
(105) Thy Word is a LAMP to my feet, and a LIGHT to my path.
2. David uses two images to indicate the value of God’s Word.
a. LAMP to my feet: Lamp is a small bowl like container much like a lantern on a pole which provided enough light for each step taken.
1) I have a small flashlight which is about 3 inches long and uses only a AAA battery. It provides just enough light for me to place my next step.
2) In what way does God’s Word give us just enough for the next move we make?
3) ELIZABETH ELLIOT - Motto for life, ’Just do the next thing’.
b. LIGHT to my path: More like headlights on a car in which the Word of God enlightens the general course of our life. I don’t know the exact steps I will be taking 5 years from now but I can know the Biblical principles which will guide them and the ultimate destination they will lead me to.
A.W. TOZAR: Contemplating the fact that more than 10,000 thoughts a day pass between our ears, ’Our thoughts not only reveal what we are, they predict what we will become. We will soon be the sum total of our thoughts’. The Holy Spirit uses the nourishment of the Word of God to rewrite our computer and renew our minds.
3. Four Explanations of the Light God’s Word provides: (106) I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep Your righteous ordinances.
IT IS A REPAIR MANUEL MY SOURCE FOR REVIVAL (107) I am exceedingly afflicted; REVIVE ME, O Lord, according to Your Word.
1. Mechanics often see cars that are seemingly beyond repair. Some people put a lot of miles on cars in a short. Time. David’s life had a lot of mileage on it by the time he was 30. He needed repair: emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
a. Rental cars take a lot of abuse and need a lot of maintenance.
A SMALL FACTORY had to shut down when a vital piece of machinery broke down. Their own mechanic unsuccessfully worked on the unit so an outside expert was called in. He came in and looked over the unit for a few minutes. He went to his tool box and pulled out a hammer and tapped the machine in a certain spot and it started running beautifully. He submitted a bill of $500 and the plant owner his the ceiling and demanded an itemized bill. The itemized bill said, ’Charge: $1.00 for hitting maching; $499.00 for knowing where to hit’
(God’s Word gets right to the problem while the world’s ways only waste important time without providing a remedy)
2. David’s definition of repair was REVIVAL in his life. Many of us may be successful at our job, have enough money in the bank, have kids that haven’t done too much damage but our lives desperately need a touch from God.
a. The longer we go without repair the more dangerous the situation becomes.
JIFFY LUBE STICKER: reminder to give attention to something you might not think about on your own. Many wait to get serious about God’s will until they begin to experience tragic consequences.
IT IS AN OPERATION MANUEL MY SOURCE FOR RIGHT LIVING (108) O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord. And teach me Your ordinances. (109) My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget Your law.
1. David sought God’s instructions for daily life. He humbly asked God to teach him.
Q-Have you ever misused an item because you didn’t take time to properly read the instruction manuel? Computer manuels are like reading the phonebook.
2. TWO IMPORTANT LESSONS:
a. God is our teacher: religion will not transform us but only a real relationship with our heavenly Father.
b. We carry a responsibility in our learning:
1) To be in class life is continually in my hand College student find themselves for the first time in their life responsible for waking up, getting up, and getting to each class without the aid of their parents. We are responsible, since our life is under our control, to be where God can speak to us.
2) To remember our lessons I do not forget Your law. David recognized the value of the curriculum. We are surrounded by people who have taken their lives and filled them with the philosophies of the world and have not sought God’s wisdom.(in the pews around us each Sunday)
IT IS INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION (110) The wicked have laid a snare for me. Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.
1. The Bible not only tells us what God is up to but what the devil is trying to accomplish.
A.W. TOZAR: Contemplating the fact that more than 10,000 thoughts a day pass between our ears, ’Our thoughts not only reveal what we are, they predict what we will become. We will soon be the sum total of our thoughts’. The Holy Spirit uses the nourishment of the Word of God to rewrite our computer and renew our minds.
2. How many men have died in wars due to traps & snares set by an enemy? Satan is the master of this strategy(angel of light, deceiver). David had to be on constant watch for traps, for betrayal. He fought against the darkness but committing himself to the light.
3. DAVID’S CONCERN: Not to go astray from the precepts of God’s Word(principles) stagger like a drunk, reel under the power of an outside influence.
Q-Do we see Christians staggering under the influence of the world’s opinions and suffering consequences in many areas of life? Marriage and dating, accepting and tolerating sin, child-rearing, financial, life goals.
IT IS A TREASURE MAP (111) I have inherited Your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart. (112) I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, even to the end.
1. David saw God’s lighted path as one of great reward. Lighted and yet the world still does not see it.
2. Truth becomes ours through our relationship with God.
3. TWO THINGS ABOUT A TREASURE MAP:
a. You must believe in the authenticity and value of the treasure: they are the joy of my heart.
1) Only explanation for the way some people live is that they have not clued into the great rewards of a healthy walk with God.
b. Commitment to following the requirements of the map:
1) Do it exactly as designed. Not say I believe in the map and in the treasure and somehow it appears on your doorstep. The map also requires a journey that many are not willing to embark upon.
A GREAT LIGHT was hung upon the veil, to distinguish the holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle. EX 27:20 ’And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the light to burn always’ The way to the holy of holies was made evident by through the light. The way to a dynamic relationship with God is through the light of His Word.
