The Christian And The Bible.

SERMON OUTLINE:

(A). What the Bible Is:

(1). Water for cleansing (vs 9).

(2). Wealth and treasure (vs 14, 72, 127, 162).

(3). A companion and friend (vs 24).

(4). A song to sing (vs 54).

(5). Honey (vs 103).

(B). What the Bible Does:

(1). It blesses (vs 1-2).

(2). It gives life (vs 25, 37, 40, 50, 88, 93).

(3). It gives strength (vs 28).

(4). It gives freedom (vs 45).

(5). It imparts wisdom (vs 66, 97-104).

(6). It gives comfort (vs 50, 76, 82, 92).

(7). It gives direction (vs 133).

(C) What We Must Do with the Bible:

(1). Love it (vs 97, 159).

(2). Prize it (vs 72, 128).

(3). Study it (vs 7, 12, 26-27).

(4). Memorize it (vs 11).

(5). Meditate on it (vs 15, 23, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148).

(6). Trust it (vs 42).

(7). Obey it (vs 1-8).

(8). Declare it (verses 13, 26).

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• I was given two books for Christmas by a member of our Church fellowship:

• One is called; “10 Second Sermons”.

• The other is called: “Even more concise 10 Second Sermons”.

• I like to believe I received them as a present because I like the author;

• Who is the comedian Milton Jones;

• And not because I am a longwinded preacher.

Ill:

• Joke: I guess you know what an optimist is:

• It is someone who thinks the preacher is about to finish when he says; “and finally”

• TRANSITION:

• Now Psalm 119 is of course a long psalm;

• The longest psalm and the ,longest chapter in the whole of the Bible

Ill:

• David Livingstone, the intrepid explorer & missionary to Africa;

• Memorised this entire Psalm when he was 9 years old,

• His reward was a New Testament from his Sunday School teacher.

Ill:

• Another who memorised this psalm was William Wilberforce;

• Who as a politician played a major role;

• For the abolition of the slave trade throughout the British Empire;

• Wrote these words in his diary (1819):

• “Walked to day from Hyde Park Corner repeating the 119th Psalm in great comfort”.

Ill:

• Another who memorised the entire Psalm was John Ruskin;

• Ruskin was a brilliant writer and art critic of the nineteenth century.

• Later he admitted;

• “It is strange that of all the pieces of the Bible that my mother taught me,

• That which cost me most to learn,

• And which was to my child’s mind most repulsive, the 119th Psalm.

• Has now become, of all, the most precious to me”

If we are honest:

• Many of us have the same sentiment as the seventeenth-century;

• British minister Thomas Fuller, who confessed:

“Lord, I discover an errant laziness in my soul. For when I read a chapter in the Bible, before I begin it, I look where it endeth, and if it endeth not on the same side, I cannot keep my hand from turning over the leaf to measure the length thereof……”

A Special psalm:

(a).

• As mentioned already;

• It is the longest Psalm (176 verses), & not surprising that it is the longest chapter in the Bible.

(b).

• It is also an acrostic Psalm;

• That means it follows the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Ill:

• If it were written in English each section would start ‘A, B, C, D…..etc until Z.’

• Because it is Hebrew it reads ‘Aleph, Beth, Gimel…..until Taw’.

• In most editions of the English Bible,

• The twenty-two sections (which each has eight verses) of this psalm

• Are headed by the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet;

• e.g. ‘Aleph, Beth, Gimel, etc’.

• In the Hebrew Bible, not the English;

• Each verse in each section also begins with the same Hebrew letter.

• e.g. All the verses in the "aleph" section (verses 1-8);

• Also begin with the Hebrew letter "aleph."

• This was probably done to help the readers memorize and meditate on God's Word.

• e.g. Preachers today often use alliteration (i.e. person, place & problem).

(c). All but five verses mention the Word of God in one way or another.

• So if you get bored you can scan the passage and try to figure them out.

• Although if you really want know see me afterwards (84, 90, 121, 122, and 132)

• In fact ten different words are used to describe the word of God;

• ‘Word, law, saying, statutes, way, commandments, path, testimonies, precepts, judgements’

• Each of those ten names indicates what the word is;

• And how we should respond to it.

(d). God is referred to in every verse.

• If you scan the psalm just note how many times the words ‘you’ or ‘your’ are used.