A Study in Psalms - Psalm 19, Part 2

Psalm 19 verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out throughout all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the Sun which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise is simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is worn, in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from him from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me, that I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for a chance to open up the perfect Word of God tonight. Father, your Word is perfect, your Word is precious, and your Word is powerful.

May we leave here tonight knowing more of you and what it is we are to do for you. In Jesus' name, amen. Last week we looked at Psalm 19 verses 1 to 6, which is all about the natural revelation, God's glory and creation. We said it was unmistakable, it was unceasing, it was unspoken, it was universal, it was undiminished and unresting. Even if somebody has not heard the gospel, Romans 120 says, so they are without excuse. The glory of God is on display throughout the universe and should cause everyone to seek God.

But natural revelation is wonderful, but we need something more that reveals who God is and His plan for mankind. That something is the inspired Word of God, which is our text tonight, Psalms 19 verses 7 to 14. It's all about the Bible tonight. You know, the attack on the Bible began in Genesis 3.1 when Satan said, did God actually say, you shall not eat any fruit of the tree in the garden? The Roman Catholic Church changed and preferred the words of man over the words of God, and for thousands of years that was how it was.

The Reformers brought back the true church with the Word of God, and then we had the Age of Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, the Age of Reason, the Industrial Revolution, that brought secular thought back to Europe, and then science and evolution in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Today we have postmodernism, which attacks the heart of Christianity, especially the Bible. So our Bible that we believe has been under attack. There's probably no pastor or theologian in our time who's been at the front of this attack and war for inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture than John MacArthur at Grace Community Church.

Let me read how he began one of his messages recently. He said the first great battle was over inerrancy of Scripture.

The inerrancy of Scripture, that is, it is without error. John says, I spent about ten years in that battle on the Inerrancy Council, and at the end of that was the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which has become the definitive statement on the inerrancy. After battling over the issue of inerrancy of Scripture, we then fought for a number of years on the completeness of Scripture, battling all those new revelations, new visions, and new words from the Lord that characterized the charismatic movement.

And I wrote on that subject extensively and interacted and engaged myself in trying to defend the fact that Scripture is the only revelation of God not to be diminished and not to be added to. So I looked up the Grace Community website to see how many messages John had preached on Psalms. Now, of course, John preached 50 years, every verse through the New Testament, 27 books. But he does go into the Old Testament occasionally, and I noticed that he has 18 messages out there on Psalms. And would you believe that 11 of them, 11 of the 18, are on Psalms 19?

That tells you why he's a preeminent theologian of our time. At Christ Community Church, we're serious about the Word of God, too. I hope you, when you have the new members class, you get the statement of faith. We have it out there. One time, I had nothing better to do, and I counted over 400 Bible verses in the statement of faith from Christ Community Church. Pastor Lance said many times, you've probably heard this many times, if God's Word is devalued, then God is diminished. Then the gospel will be diluted, then good works will decrease, then godly living will disappear.

I think that's an accurate description of our country and our world today. So before we get into Psalms 19, this is just by introduction. Many years ago, and I don't know where I got this, but in the back of my Bible, I wrote down the eight wonders of the Bible. I use this sometimes in evangelism, when people don't, and I don't know, maybe I got it from Pastor Lance, I don't remember where I got it, I usually write it down, but there's eight wonders in the Bible, so I thought I'd read them to you tonight.

The first wonder is the wonder of its construction. You know, most of the Bible writers are Jewish, and they're not known for their literacy excellence. Remember in Acts 4.13, when the Pharisees saw the boldness of Peter and John, and they perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished, and they recognized that they'd been with Jesus. So the wonder of its construction. Number two, the wonder of its unity.

Sixty-six books, forty authors, 1,500 years to write it, three languages, three continents it was written on, different authors from many various different backgrounds, yet one unity, one salvation. And that's because 2 Peter 1.21 says, no prophecy of Scripture was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God and were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Number two, the wonder of its historical accuracy.

No historical act has ever contradicted the Bible. The names of over 40 kings of various countries mentioned in the Bible have all been found in contemporary documents and inscriptions outside the Old Testament, and are always consistent with the times and places associated with them in the Bible. Nothing exists in ancient literature that has been even remotely well confirmed as accuracy of the Bible. Even this week there was an article on Fox News about when Sennacherib came up to attack Jerusalem.

I think it's actually such a great story, it's listed three times in the Bible, but the first time is in 2 Kings 19, and the angel of the Lord killed 180,000 Assyrians.

The archaeologists think they found where the Assyrian camp was this week, so archaeology always backs the Bible up. Number four, the wonder of its scientific accuracy. Just give you a couple verses, Job 36.27 and 29 says, for he draws up the drops of water, they distill in his mist in the rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly. Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion? So the wonder of its scientific accuracy. Number five, the wonder of its indestructibility.

The Bible is the world's bestseller. In the year 1776, French philosopher Voltaire declared, 100 years from my day there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an Antiochian curiosity seeker. And you all know that 100 years later, Voltaire was dead, and his own house and press were being used to print Bibles. You can't destroy the Bible, because it's from God. And that's because Matthew 5.18 says, for truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Number six, the wonder of its prophecy. Predictive statements all coming true, hundreds upon hundreds of them. One of them, Micah 5.2 says, that Bethlehem, you are too little to be among the clans of Judah, for from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. So they prophesied where the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Number seven, the wonder of its Christ-centeredness. The first mention of the coming Messiah begins in Genesis 3.15.

We have verses in Deuteronomy 18.15, and all through the Psalms. If you were with us last year, Psalms 22 is all about the Christ. And lastly, number eight, the wonder of its transforming capabilities. The disciples are a perfect example. You know, you had at the cross, you had at Jesus' arrest, they all ran and fled, right? Matthew 25.56 says, then all his disciples left him and fled. But later, James was executed by Herod in Acts 12, but the rest, the nine, nine other, eleven others were either persecuted or killed or tortured, and they all, they all were transformed.

That's because the word of God transforms. Jeremiah 23.29 is one of my favorite verses about the Bible. It says, is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. The Bible is more than a literary masterpiece. It's a revelation of the word of God. I said last week that Psalm 19, C.S. Lewis, a great American writer, said, is the greatest poem and one of the greatest lyrics in the world, as it contains the clearest summary of the doctrine of revelation to be found in the Old Testament, namely, that God has made himself known to all mankind and his creator.

We said last week that the Apostle Paul was impacted by Psalm 19, as he wrote Romans 1 and Romans 10. We said there's two sections, verses 1 to 6, were the created world, and verses 7 to 14 were the written word. Three simple points tonight. Scripture is perfect, verses 7 to 9. Scripture is precious, verse 10, and Scripture is powerful, verses 11 to 14. Let's begin with Scripture is perfect, and this is where we'll spend the bulk of our time tonight. In these three special verses, we have Hebrew poetry at its finest.

I know it's Hebrew poetry translated into English for us, but it's hard to find a better example in all of Scripture that talks about the Bible. David's going to use six parallel statements in these verses that are the greatest description of the Word of God in all the Bible. You have six titles for the Word of God, or six synonyms for the Word of God. Law, testimony, precepts, commandments, fear, and rules. Only Psalm 119 has more. We said last week that Psalm 119 was the Mount Everest of Scripture, and it uses ten names for the names of God's Word.

By the way, Pastor Lance has preached 26 messages on Psalm 119, if you would like to get the CDs from our library. But both Psalm 119 and Psalm 119 use various titles for Scripture. Each name emphasizes a different nuance of its comprehensive ability to execute all of God's purposes. So you have six titles or six synonyms. Notice six times the name of God is used.

We mentioned last week that in verses 1 to 6, the name of God is only used once. The heavens declare the glory of God, Elohim, the Creator God, because verses 1 to 6 are all about creation. But here you have the name Yahweh. It's seven times in verses 7 to 14, but it says, you know, the law of the Lord, the testimonies of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord, the commandment of the Lord, the rules of the Lord. It's all from God, not from man. So it's very clear, it's from God and not from man. Dr. James Boyce, in his book, Why and How to Study the Bible, said, in most forms of modern debate, the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are handled as if they are man's word about God, rather than God's word to man.

So six times you have the title of God, six times you have the name Yahweh used, and then you have six adjectives which describe what God's word does. And then you have six statements on why the Bible can do what that adjective describes. This is just simply wonderful Hebrew poetry here. Three verses, each one has two titles. So let's begin with the law of the Lord. I'm going to give you a definition, a description, and a purpose for each one. I don't know if you have time, space in your outline to write, but number one, the law of the Lord, the definition of the law of the Lord.

It's a very common word used in the Old Testament, I'm sure you know. It's the word Torah, and it comes from a root meaning to project, to teach, and refers to any direction or instruction flowing from the Word of God that points out or indicates God's will to man. It's not only the moral, civil, and ceremonial law, but the entire teaching, instruction, and doctrine of Scripture. Description of the law, it says it's perfect, and that's why our point tonight is that God's word is perfect. It's free from defects, blemishes, and spotless.

It lacks nothing to be complete. It's a complete revelation of divine truth, and it's complete as a rule of conduct. There's nothing in the law that would lead a man into error or sin, and there's nothing a man needs to know which may not be found there. And that's because I read 2 Peter 121. Again, no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the law, it revives the soul, or it converts the soul. Paul tells us in Romans that the law condemns us, the law threatens us, the law kills us.

This is the effect of the law apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ. The law turns men away from sin to holiness. Paul said in Romans 7-7, without the law, he would not have known what sin was. The law brings a soul back to God. It calls us back from wanderings and brings us back to the true shepherd of our soul. It converts us. I like my brother Ray Comfort. I think some of you may follow him on YouTube, or you can just go down to Huntington Beach Pier on a Saturday, and he'll be down there with his crew.

But he always uses the law in sharing Christ. We've actually had him here at Christ Community Church many, many years ago. But he will ask somebody, have you ever lied? And most people would say, yeah. Have you ever looked lustfully at a woman? Yes. Have you ever stolen? Yes. And then he uses the law to tell them that you're damned, you're condemned under the law, that you've broken God's law. Let's move on to the second title, the testimony of the Lord.

So the definition of the testimony of the Lord, the testimony, I can say it right, eduit of the Lord in Hebrew, it's derived from the root word meaning to bear witness, and thus testifies as to its divine author. It's a declaration of the will of God. The testimonies became God's standard of conduct. It's assembled by the two tablets, the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, which were placed in the ark as a witness of the holy character of God. If you take evangelism training here at Christ Community Church, you're taught how to give your testimony in three minutes, right?

Three to four minutes. But the Bible is 66 books of God's testimony. The description of the testimony, it says it's sure, it's established, it's firm, the revealed truth is not unsettled, it's facilitate or uncertain. It has 66 books. We do not need more, no more needed. It's so certain that it can be relied upon, so well established that it cannot be shaken. One pastor said, there is no infallible guide but the moral law of God declared in the Bible. We must not live according to the philosophy of men, the media, or institutions to rule over our lives.

But pray fully, seek light from God's word and God will not allow us to wander in the wrong way. The purpose of the testimony, making wise the simple. The one who is open enough to God's instruction to do them will become wise. It refers to those in need of spiritual guidance, who seek guidance. It makes us wise in knowledge of God and gives us instructions, so it instructs us. Jesus said in Matthew 11, 25, at that time Jesus declared, I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Number 3, the precepts of the Lord. Now we go to verse 8, two in each verse. The definition of precepts, perhaps your translation says statutes. The precepts of the Lord is a poetical word for injunctions. This word precepts is only found here in Psalms and Hebrew. There are other words for precepts in other scriptures, in Jeremiah and Peter, but only this word is used here and it's always in the plural, the precepts. It literally refers to an authoritative charge or an order that is binding upon the recipient.

In this instance, it is as if from the sovereign Lord of the universe, directing and governing all people. Psalms 117 says, the works of his hands are faithful and just. All his precepts are trustworthy. The description of the precepts, it says they're right. Right means straight as opposed to being crooked. His precepts and decrees are found in righteousness and are right for men and were given for the right reasons. As a doctor gives the right medicine, a counselor the right advice, so does the word of God.

The purpose of the precepts, it says rejoicing the heart. If you walk in a straight path, you're going to have joy. If you walk in a crooked path, oh you may have temporary joy in your sin, but you will have a miserable life and your family too. So it says rejoicing the heart. Notice the progress first.

Law converts. Testimony instructs. And here thirdly, precepts give joy. That's what God's word does. Spurgeon said, the truth that makes the heart right now gives joy to the right heart. It's always a source of true happiness when we feel we are under just and true laws. Laws that are administrated in righteousness and truth. Number four, the commandment of the Lord. The definition of the commandment, the commands of the Lord signify a definite authoritative command or anything ordained by the Lord.

It designates the general body of imperative commands contained in God's law. These are not suggestions, but commandments. You cannot pick and choose which ones you want to obey. They are commandments. Psalms 103 verse 17, 18 says, but the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. And his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The description of the commandment, it says, is pure, free from stain, from all imperfections, from any corrupt tendency, corrupt things decay, that which is pure endures and only God's word and our souls will last to eternity.

Matthew 5, 18 says, for truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Today people have a relative idea of truth. They believe that truth changes from generation to generation and from one individual perception to another individual perception. The Bible teaches that truth is absolute and unchanging and is grounded upon the word of God. A wise person will build his life upon it. The purpose of commandments, it says to enlighten the eyes.

We use our eyes to see where we go. The idea here is the mind is enlightened by the truth of God's word. By commandments we see what is right, what is wrong, and understand what we should do. So it enlightens the eyes. Psalm 119, 105, a real familiar verse, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Then we go to verse 9, two more, the fear of the Lord. The definition of the fear of the Lord is the fifth title of scripture. The fear of the Lord refers to parts of God's law that evoke fear or reverence, including passages that reveal God's holiness and awesome judgments.

Thus scripture is God's manual for worship, leading those to read it to reverence to God, holding him in strictest awe. MacArthur said, you can't go high in your worship if you don't go deep in God's word. And so much of the worship you see today is so phony. The word of God pronounces divine judgment on those who disobey his message. Depicting God as angry at sin, such passages inspire fear of God. The description of fear, it says is clean, pure in a physical sense. Nothing is hidden in that tends to corrupt morals or defile the soul.

Everything is connected with its purity and holiness. It's adapted to cleanse the soul and make our souls holy. The purpose of fear, enduring forever, standing for all eternity, not temporary, not decaying, not destined to pass away. It stands now and will stand forever. It's relevant and sufficient for our times. And then lastly, number six, the rules of the Lord. You have an NASB Bible. It says judgments. I think there's some translation that say ordinances. So the description of the rules or judgments, the Lord here represents a judicial decision that constitutes a precedence of binding law.

It denotes divinely ordered decisions on all kinds of issues in what might be called case law applications to specific situations of statutes, precepts, commands of the law. In the Pentateuch, this was the Ten Commandments. The word can also mean God's judgmental acts on the wicked. The description of the rules are true. They're truth. They're always in agreement with what is right. God is infinitely perfect and what he does will always be right in accordance with his nature. His rules and judgments are right because his will is always in accordance with what is always right.

Jesus testified to that when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life in John 14 6. The purpose of judgments, it says they're righteous altogether. They're just. There's not one of them that isn't just or proper. God's judgments are right because his will is always in accordance with what is right. So the rules make us righteous. On the back of your outline, Dr. Henry Morris, who you know from Creation Institute Research, written a lot of books about Genesis, but he also loves the Psalms. There's a little chart there in the back, says the written word of God.

And you can see six titles for the word of God, what it is. Law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, and rules. What it does, the adjectives, it converts, it instructs, it rejoices, it enlightens, it endures, and makes righteous. And then why can't it? Because the law is perfect, the testimonies are sure, the precepts are right, the commandments are pure, the fear is clean, and the rules are true. So I hope you'll keep that and study that. So do you believe the word of God is perfect? It's inspired, it's inerrant, it has authority, and it's sufficient for all our needs.

Scripture is perfect, the psalmist said, and after getting six perfections of scripture, David's now going to sing about how precious scripture is in verse 10. Scripture is precious. Two points, more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey. He says more to be desired than gold than much fine gold. You know, man has a thirst for gold, right? It's the most precious thing on earth, right? I used to love, I don't watch it anymore, that Gold Rush TV show, and at the end of it they pour that gold and the scale and tell you how much money they got.

But all the gold in the world can't purchase eternal life, can it? Or bring a man to a personal relationship of Jesus Christ. It can provide a lot of pleasures on earth, but no value for eternity. Proverbs 8 verses 10 to 11 says, take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. And the verses 18 to 19 say, riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.

Then David says the word of God is more precious and sweeter than honey. Sweeter than honey and the drippings of honeycomb. At the time that David wrote this, honey was probably the sweetest thing on earth. And it's scripture that fills our soul with sweetness. Colossians 3.16 says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your heart to God. There's treasure in your heart when you know the word of God is precious.

Another pastor I really like is Paul Washer. He's the president of HeartCry Mission. And he gave a great illustration this week I heard. He said that if you, imagine you working maybe McDonald's for minimum wage, I guess it's $20 an hour now.

Imagine you working for $20 an hour at McDonald's, slaving away, and your boss came to you with this giant binder of rules and regulations and procedures and laws. And the boss says, I want you to take this manual and I want you to study it. And I want you to study it and know it. And if you can come back to me and know it, I'll give you a promotion and I'll give you $250,000 a year salary. What would you do? I'm pretty sure most of us would study that manual day and night, every waking moment. We would memorize it back and forth to get that salary, wouldn't we?

But how much more precious is the word of God? Only it can give us eternal life. Only special revelation can. There's a, you know the story of David Livingston, a great missionary to Africa. And in the year 1871, you know, they didn't have cell phones or internet back then. He basically disappeared in the middle of Africa. So Stanley, who was a reporter for a U.S. newspaper, and I think William Hearst is the one who paid for his, sent him to Africa to find Livingston. And when Stanley began his journey, it took eight months.

He had 73 books. There were 200 porters carrying the food and the books. But after he had gone about 300 miles, he had to throw away most of those, a lot of those books. And eventually his library grew less and less and less till finally he was left with one book.

And that was the word of God. It's said that he read that book three times through that eight month's journey. Is God's word as precious to you as it was to him? And let's finish with the third point.

Scripture is powerful. In verses seven and nine, we saw six titles for God's word, six adjectives to describe God's word, and six statements about what God's word does. What is the one characteristic all six have in common? The answer is they all portray the Bible as words to be obeyed. David viewed the Bible as words to be obeyed. The Bible is authoritative, inerrant, and absolutely binding. The final four verses here we're going to look at focus on obedience of God's servant.

David saw the glory of God in the sky in verses one to six. He saw the perfections of God's word in verses seven and nine. He saw the treasure in God's word in verse ten. And now he wants to obey it in verses 11 to 14. Scripture is powerful. Second Timothy 3, 16 and 17 says, all scripture is God breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So number one, the power, God's word is powerful for the prize. Verse 11 says, moreover by them your sermon is worn, in keeping them there is great reward. Last week I said B-I-D-L-E stands for basic instructions before leaving earth. Right? Scripture is powerful to say. You know, Lance was talking about the word listen last Sunday, right? And I went through Jeremiah and it was a great lesson. I found at least 22 times, and maybe there's more, but it said you will not listen, you refuse to listen.

You know, but if you listen to God's word, John 5, 24 says, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word, listens, and believes in him who sent me, has three promises. Number one, eternal life.

Number two, does not come into judgment. Number three, has passed from death to life. Scripture saves us and that's the great reward that we will have in heaven. Philippians 3, 14 says I press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The prize is eternal life. The prize is heaven. The prize is a new body glorified in heaven. Number two, God's word is powerful to purify.

Verse 12, it says who can discern his errors, declare me innocent from hidden faults. I want you to notice in verse 12, hidden faults, in verse 13, presumptuous sins.

Two different types of sins. So here in verse 12, we have a rhetorical question which implies an obvious answer. Only the person who reads, studies, and meditates on God's word can discern the errors. Scripture is a lamp that reveals hidden faults. Scripture reveals sin. I actually like the King James version here better. King James says cleanse me from my secret faults. What are hidden or secret faults? A hidden fault is hidden when the person himself is unaware of what he's doing. That's sinful.

It's hidden from him through ignorance or insensitivity. In the Old Testament, there was a special sacrifice that you had to make if you made a hidden sin like this. Scripture is powerful to purify us. It purifies you when you read it. You read and study the Bible. When we read God's word, it leads to self-examination, right? Many years ago, Pastor Lance gave the illustration of physical food versus spiritual food, and I never forgot it. When we don't eat our physical food, what happens? You start to starve, right?

And you get hungrier and hungrier and hungrier. And you've got to eat, right? And you're just famished. So when the food comes, you just inhale that food, right? But spiritual food is the opposite. If you don't read your Bible on Monday, you're probably not going to read it on Tuesday. And if you don't read it on Tuesday, you're probably not going to read it on Wednesday, and you'll take a break. You don't get hungry for God's word. It's the opposite of spiritual food. Some days, you just got to force yourself to read God's word.

When you're down, depressed, when you're discouraged, when you're in the dumps, when you're undergoing trials, when your life is rough, you got to force yourself to read God's word because God's word is perfect. God's word is precious and God's word is powerful, and it'll purify you. So you got to... Scripture is powerful enough to purify us, and you do that by reading and studying God's word. Secondly, by confessing your sins.

First John 1.9 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and you cleanse us and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I don't know how many times when I'm reading God's word, when I remember a sin, when I remember something I did, and I got to confess it. Thirdly, it sanctifies us.

2 Corinthians 7.1 says, since we have these promises, promises in the word of God, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. The word of God sanctifies us. Someone said the Bible will keep you away from sin or sin will keep you away from your Bible. So force yourself to do it. Then let's look at power to prevent sin.

God's word is powerful to prevent sin. Verse 13, it says, keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. So we had hidden sins in verse 12, we have presumptuous sins here in verse 13. In verse 12, David prayed for help against hidden sins or the sins you don't know about. Here David's asking for strength from God for presumptuous sins. What are presumptuous sins? Presumptuous sins, it says presumptuous sins in ESV, King James and NSV. The NIV says willful sins and the NLT says deliberate sins.

It literally means rebellion. One pastor said David sees a difference between, on one hand, sins we commit because they baffle us or sneak up upon us, hidden sins in verse 12, and on the other hand, sins we commit because we presume to know better than God or presume that sin is no big deal. The point is not that there's a special category of extra bad sins like murder, rape, treason. The point is there's a special category of sinning, namely sinning and arrogant defiance of a known law. It's not so much what you do that puts sinning in this category as whether you do it with a forethought and defiance or rebellion.

That's what David calls presumptuous sins. They're fully intentional, with our eyes open, with our heart says, I know God says this is wrong and harmful, but I just don't care what God says, I'm going to do it anyway.

And a lot of Christians do that. Let's leave in the last one, verse 14, the power to make perfect. This is like a benediction closing to this great psalms. Let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. David here wants his conduct, his character, and his conversation to be holy in the eyes of God. So he ends this Psalm 19 with a beautiful benediction. It's a prayer not to be perfect. No man is perfect, but it's a prayer to be blameless, to be blameless before God.

Whatever we speak or think in our minds or whatever we act may be pleasing to God. Philippians 2, Paul mentions the same thing in verses 12 to 16. He says, therefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, so now not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For as God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure, do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without a blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine like lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.

You know, I know Wednesday night I'm preaching to the choir. I'm pretty sure you love the word of God. You know it's perfect. You know it's precious. You know it's powerful. I'm pretty concerned a lot of people don't come out on Wednesday night and I believe the same thing. So I'm preaching to the choir tonight. I trust that you have, you don't just hear God's word on Sunday. You come out on Wednesday nights. You read God's word. You study God's word. I hope you memorize some verses and I hope you meditate upon God's word.

So I was saying, what can I do for the application? You know, we talk a lot about God's word. Lance has a series on God's word in you. There's eight messages. There's another series called trembling at God's word, 18 messages. And I mentioned Psalms 119, God's word, God's word in God's word, 26 messages. We talk about God's word all the time here at Christ's church. So in the back of your outline, this has got to be probably, I don't even know what messages came from Lance, but probably 20 because I wrote this down, I think before I went to India in 2002.

Maybe Lance did it again, but I thought this would be good for us to go through the ABCs of God's word that Lance did. And maybe there's one or two, three that might prick your heart and say, hey, I've got to do better in that area. So let's go through them. A stands for abide in God's word. And you know the verse John 15, seven says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. Are you abiding in God's word? I trust you are. B stands for believe in God's word.

Acts 24, 14 says, I worship the God of our fathers. This is Paul saying, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets. C stands for consume God's word. Joshua 1.8 says, this book of law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. Then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. D, defend God's word. And of course that's that famous verse Jude 3.

You contend for the faith. Are you like a pit bull guarding its house or its master for the word of God? E, do you esteem God's word? Psalms 138.2 says, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. I think that's the first verse in the Christ community church statement of faith.

You fear God's word. Isaiah 66.2 says, but this is the one whom I will look. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Literally sometimes when you read God's word it makes you tremble because you remember sins you did. You remember principles. You remember promises. G, do you grow in God's word? 1 Peter 2.2 says, like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up in your salvation. If you're not growing in God's word you're dying because we're getting older and older.

H, hear God's word. Jesus said in Luke 11.28, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Investigate God's word. Acts 17.11. God said, you know the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians. Why? Because they examined the scriptures daily to see if what Paul said matched to the Old Testament scriptures. We are required to judge our pastors, our speakers. Are they correctly handling the word of God? J, journey through God's word. Psalms 119.133 says, keep steady my steps according to your promise.

In Psalms 119 the promise would be the word of God. K, know God's word. Psalms 119.11, that famous verse, I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Scripture memorization is so important. L, love God's word. Psalms 119.97 says, oh how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day. M, meditate on God's word. Psalm 1.2 says, but his delight, this is in the godly man. The godly man's delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. Do you have insomnia some nights?

Can you not sleep some nights? Do you wake up and can't get back to sleep? Just take a verse. Take a verse, maybe one that was preached on Sunday and just go through it. Maybe it's a familiar verse like John 3.16 or John 5.24 and just meditate upon it. N, neglect not God's word. Proverbs 13.13 says whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. God's word is precious. It saves us. It changes our life. Obey God's word. James 1.22, but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourself.

Proclaim God's word. Matthew 28.19 and 20 says go and make disciples. To make disciples you've got to preach, right? You've got to share the gospel, right? Quote God's word. In Matthew 4, three times Jesus quoted scripture back to Satan. Lance has pointed out if Jesus had said anything it would have been new scripture. But Jesus went back to Deuteronomy and quoted scripture three times to talk back to Satan. How much more should we do the same in quoting God's word? R, read God's word. Nehemiah 8.8 says they read from the book from the law of God.

I think they read it six hours that great day. S, study God's word. Ezra 7.10, for Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in statues and rules in Israel. T, teach God's word. 2 Timothy 2.2 says and what you've heard from me, that's Paul, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men, that would be Paul's disciples, who will then be able to teach others. Are you ready to teach God's word? We really need some new Sunday school teachers to help. We've had a lot of Sunday school teachers have babies recently so just in a couple weeks or next week we're starting, I think they need about two or three Sunday school teachers.

C, Roger Flores or David Lobosh. We need some teachers and helpers in Sunday school to help teach God's word. U, understand God's word. Psalms 119.27 says make me understand the way of your precepts and I will meditate on your wondrous works. One of the things that the precepts do is they instruct us, they teach us. You don't have to be a theologian, you don't have to have a doctorate. We have discernment, we have wisdom from the Holy Spirit. V, value God's word and that's our text tonight. Psalms 19.7-10.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter than honey from the drippings of the honeycomb. W, welcome God's word. 1 Thessalonians 2.13 says and we also thank God constantly for this, that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

We welcome it. We get up, you know, I just, I can't, I have a cup of coffee and I got my Bible. It's the greatest part of my day. Why? Yield to God's word. Romans 12.1 says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. And Z, zeal for God's word. Jeremiah 15.16, one of the most famous verses in our church, you hear it a lot. Your words were found and I ate them. And your words became to me a joy and the light of my heart for I am called by your name.

Oh Lord, God of hosts. So I hope you'll look through that and see if that can help you in your quiet time in your time. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for the word of God. We are so blessed to have it in English. We are so blessed to have it in multiple translations. We are so blessed to have the study Bibles to study it apps and the internet and commentaries when there's still places in this world where they're not completed. I think of Cy Brun's son, David, who's in Papua New Guinea, finishing the Old Testament in the Lama Guy language so that just one tribe in Papua New Guinea and all the face of the earth could have the completed Bible in their language.

And yet we are so blessed. Father, Holy Spirit, help us not to neglect it. Even when we're down, when we're discouraged, may we pour out the word of God because it converts, it enlightens us, it instructs us, it rejoices us. Your word is perfect. Your word is precious. Your word is powerful. May we leave here today defending the truth, sharing the truth, loving the truth. In Jesus name, amen.