God's Word: Hallowed in Heaven

The Lord, you are so, so good to us We thank you that we can take some time out during this midweek to dive deep into the word of God We praise you, Lord, that you have given us your word that we might study it, and that from that word we understand our great God And Lord, there are many lessons we need to learn, and I pray, Father, that the lessons for us this evening will be clear, and that we will live in obedience to you In Jesus' name we pray, amen Psalm 119, that's where we're at, verse number 89 This is the center of this great chapter It is the core of the chapter

It is the strongest point of the chapter, chapter Psalm 119, 89, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven It is the bedrock in which the psalmist runs Having been tossed to and fro by persecution and hardship and difficulty, he lands upon the shore, stands upon the rock of his God and his word And there he stands and finds the strength he needs And as we look at this great psalm, we are able to see that the word of God is that which is settled forever, and it becomes the bedrock of our existence

You know, it's an amazing thing to study the word of God. I guess I always marvel at the number of people who don't study God's word. I guess I just don't understand that. I don't understand people who don't wanna be in the word of God or under the word of God. I don't understand people who don't live to spend time each day in the word of God. I just have no understanding of people like that. I don't get it It just does not compute with me The value of God's word, the greatness of God's word goes far beyond anything we can ever imagine

And tonight as we understand how God's word is hallowed in heaven, we're gonna see four main issues in these verses that will help us come to grips with the greatness of God's word. I'll read the odd verses, you read the even verses No matter what translation you have, it's okay We just wanna read it together Psalm 119, I'll begin reading the odd ones Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven Your faithfulness continues They stand this day according to thine ordinances For all things are thy servants

If your law had not. I will never forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast revived me. I am yours, save me, for I have sought your precepts The wicked wait for me to destroy me. I shall diligently consider thy testimonies. I have seen a limit, but your commandment is exceedingly broad The word of God transcends all things, all circumstances, all situations God's word stands forever And four things I want you to see this evening One, I wanna look at God's word and its unending character And then I wanna look at God's word and see its undeniable comfort

And then I wanna see God's word in terms of its unparalleled content and then its unlimited commandments Thy word, O Lord, is established in heaven forever This is essential aspect of this song Two things I want you to see about its unending character It is eternal One, it is finished And two, it is faithful God's word is complete Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled Thy word is established Long before it was ever recorded on the pages of scripture It was finished This is a very important statement for us to understand We need to realize that God's word is complete in its entirety

It is finished The recorded word of God is complete Today we meet many people who believe that God still speaks, speaks to them You run into people who come to your house and say, well, God has given to us another revelation So we have another book that records another revelation Does God actually do that? How do we know that the words of this book, the pages of the Bible, is the ending revelation of God? How is it we know that? Let me explain this to you Because we know that forever, O Lord, thy word is settled, thy word is confirmed, thy word is established in the heavens It's complete

We also know that John 16, verse number 13, says that he will give the apostles all truth The spirit will come and the spirit will make sure that the apostles understand all truth Truth Not some truth, but all truth And so those apostles then would record all that truth for you and me to be able to understand Everything that God wants us to know, everything that God wants us to understand is right here Because the apostles would be able to communicate all truth because the spirit of God would help them understand all the truth we need to know Turn with me in your Bible to Hebrews chapter one

Everything God ever wanted to say through his word was settled long ago It was and is a completed revelation Hebrews chapter one, verse number one God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son In other words, the writer of Hebrews says that in the last of these days, what days? The days in which God was speaking And the last days in which God spoke, he spoke through his son, Jesus Christ The word last does not modify days The word last stands by itself It's all alone

So when the last time God spoke, he spoke through his son, Jesus Christ That's very clear That's very simple You see, because people will come to you and say, well, you know, God spoke to me Did he? How do you know? How can you tell them that God did not speak to them? You see, God speaks to us through his word If they can give you chapter and verse, then God is speaking to them through his word But if they speak extra biblical content, then we know that God is not speaking to them because God spoke lastly through his son, the Messiah That's Hebrews one, verse number one

So when you go to a place like Revelation chapter one, verse number one, it says the revelation of Jesus Christ, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his bondservants the things which must shortly take place And he sent and communicated it by his angel to the bondservant, John So God in the last days spoke through his son, Jesus Christ And the last word he gave came through an angel about the revelation of Christ to John on the island of Patmos

So when you go to Revelation 22, a very familiar verse that we all know, verse number 18, it says, I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book If anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book And if anyone takes away from the words which of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city which are written in this book Now, we understand that people say, well, that only applies to the book of Revelation No, it doesn't

How do we know it doesn't? Because the book of Revelation takes you all the way to the end of time as we know it And if the book of Revelation takes you all the way to the end of time, then for God to speak extra biblical revelation would be that he would be adding to time and God does not do that God does not add to time Because from the end of Revelation, you have the eternal state And so therefore, those words specifically apply to all of time You can't add to God's word You can't erase what God says You can't expand on what God says

Deuteronomy 4, Deuteronomy 12, Proverbs 30, and Jeremiah 26 all say the same thing that is said in Revelation 22 You can't add or take away from this book You can't do it to the law and the prophets You can't do it to the historical books, the poetical books, any book Why? Because God has completed his revelation

That's why Peter was so clear over in 2 Peter chapter two, I'm sorry, chapter one, when he recorded these words. 2 Peter chapter one, for we, verse number 16, did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty For when he received honor and glory from God, the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased

Peter is giving us a testimony of his time on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Lord Jesus Christ unveiled himself, he unzipped his flesh, and there was a voice from heaven that says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased Listen to what Peter says Verse number 18, and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain, and so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts

He says, we have even a more sure prophetic word than the experience we had on the Mount of Transfiguration What Peter is doing is separating his experience from the authority of God's sure prophetic word Why? Because there are a lot of people who come around saying, well, I've had this experience where God has spoken to me Really? There's a more sure prophetic word than your experience You see, the problem with experience is that it's subjective and once you remove the objective source, the word of God, from that experience, it's always subject to error

Why? Because the Bible says that our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, no man can know it And so when you say God said to me or God spoke to me because in my experience, in my heart, I felt him speaking to me, you are deceived Why are you deceived? Because we have a more sure prophetic word The last time God spoke, God spoke through his son, Hebrews chapter one, verse number one That's why And everything that God gave us is in this book Everything we need to know that pertains to life and godliness is in this book God made it complete, it's a completed revelation

And it helps us come to grips with the reality That's why the Bible says, thy word is a lamp unto thy feet and a light unto thy path God's word is that lamp, that light that directs us And once you stop looking at that light, the word of God, you look at the angel that describes himself as light and that is Satan And you gotta be very, very careful because God's word is a completed revelation It's forever settled in heaven And if that's the case, let me tell you something

That means that God's word is complete. 2 Timothy 3, 16 says that God's word, that inspired word of God, that God-breathed word is so adequate to equip a man for every good work, everything God wants him to do, God's word will equip him to do Now, I'm afraid there's very few believers who believe that because they look for extra sources outside the word of God to find sufficiency, to find help when the word of God speaks directly to us

You see, I would much rather know what God says on an issue than what anybody else says on an issue. I wanna know what God thinks about it. I wanna know how God describes it. I wanna know how God deals with it because that tells me how I need to deal with it But sometimes people don't like that because when God deals with it, it goes against their carnal nature and they would rather read about somebody else who dealt with it their way instead of having to submit themselves to God's way So therefore, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven That is, God's word is a finished product

God gave us his word and that which is recorded was completed before time began because that's God's word It's his unending character It is an eternal word that lasts forever and the word that God gives because it's a life-giving word, it's a living word, it lasts forever It's the living and abiding word of God and therefore, it's of extreme value to people like you and me So we begin to realize that as the psalmist said, that God's word is finished But not only that, God's word is faithful It's faithful Because it's eternal, because it's unending, it's always faithful

It never ceases to do what God wants it to accomplish Listen to this, verse number 90 Thy faithfulness continues throughout all generations We can rely on God's word because of its faithfulness and that faithful word applies across the board to all generations Not certain generations, but to all generations And thou didst establish the earth and its stands They stand this day according to thine ordinances Listen, God tells us that the way you understand how faithful his word is, is by an illustration of the present universe and the heavens and this earth

Because the earth abides and the universe abides, its faithfulness describes for us the faithfulness of the word of God This is a tremendous thing Let me illustrate it to you this way Turn over to Psalm 89 for a moment Psalm 89, verse number one The psalmist says, I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever To all generations, I will make known thy faithfulness with my mouth For I have said, loving kindness will be built up forever In the heavens, thou wilt establish thy faithfulness

In the heavens, thou wilt establish thy faithfulness. I know that God is faithful because of the heavens, because of the stars, because of the universe, because of the sun, because of the planets Look what it says over to verse 33 But I will not break off my loving kindness from him nor deal falsely in my faithfulness My covenant I will not violate nor will I alter the utterance of my lips Once I am sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David His descendants shall endure forever and is thrown as the sun before me

It shall be established forever like the moon and the witness in the sky is faithful That is the rainbow God says, let me tell you something about the universe It describes my faithfulness to David and my covenant with David. I am true to David, I will keep my word to David, just like when you go outside and look at the stars and they shine and you observe the sun and it gives you light When you look at the rainbow, it demonstrates my faithfulness Look over in Psalm 95, I'm sorry, 93, verse number one The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty

The Lord has clothed and girded himself with strength Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved My throne is established from of old, thou art from everlasting In other words, God is saying that because the world is established and does not move, neither does God, you can count on him, he is faithful God uses the universe over and over in the scriptures to describe to us his faithfulness Psalm 104, verse number five, says this Psalm 104, he established the earth upon its foundations so that it will not totter forever and ever

So again, we begin to see how the parallel comes between the faithfulness of God being rooted in the fact that there is a universe that we observe and understand it Remember what Job said back in Job 26, verse number seven It says he stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing He hangs the earth on nothing Speaking about the universe and how it just kinda is out there, but it always, always operates perfectly Listen to what it says over in Colossians chapter one Colossians chapter one, verse number 17

It says, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together God is the creator of all things, he is before all things, and because of him all things are held together In other words, if God wasn't actively involved in the universe, in your life, in my life, it would disintegrate, it would not last God holds all things together There's nothing in this universe, there's nothing on this earth that God does not hold together How does he do that? Hebrews chapter one tells us, verse three And he is a radiance, I'm sorry, verse two. I'm sorry, verse three, I was right the first time

And he is a radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power God holds everything together through his word That's why he uses the universe as an example of the faithfulness of his word Because he holds it all together just by speaking a word He brought it into existence, Genesis chapter one, because he spoke it into existence Let there be light, there was light Let there be darkness, there was darkness God created it by speaking a word God holds it together by the word of his power

Listen to what God says in Genesis chapter eight, verse number 22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease In other words, you got this guarantee We are about to embark on the fall because fall always follows summer, always And after fall comes what? Winter, always After winter comes? Spring, always After spring comes? Summer, always Never ceases It will always be that way because that's how God designed it

And therefore, you know that when you go outside and you look at the stars, you see them there, you know they're going to be there, you know that the sun is gonna be there in the morning, you know the moon's gonna be there at night Why? Because God is holding them all together and they describe his faithfulness, his faithful witness in the sky It's all about his word and the commitment he has made And therefore, we can trust what God says And look what it says in Psalm 119 This is so rich. I don't know if you got it or not, but let me look at it with you for a second

He says, they stand this day according to thine ordinances What's that? The earth It stands because God's spoken into existence and God holds it all together For all things, verse 91, are thy servants Do you know that the universe serves the Lord? Did you know that? Sometimes, I'm not sure we completely understand that all things serve God Let me give you an example Jonah Jonah rebelled against God, so what did God do? He caused a storm He caused a storm because the winds and the clouds obey his voice And once Jonah was overboard, what did God do? He sent a huge fish

Why? Because that huge fish obeys the word of God All things are subject to him As the psalmist says, all things are God's servants That's the way it works How about Pharaoh? Pharaoh defied the living God He defied him So what did God do? God, in his wonderful power, sent frogs and flies Because frogs and flies obey the voice of God Then he sent, what? Lice and locusts Because lice and locusts are the servants of God He sent blood and boils Why? Because it's all subject to God All things are the servants of God

That's why in Mark chapter four, when there was a great storm and the disciples were utterly astonished, they said, oh, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him? Well, why wouldn't they obey him? All wind comes because of God and all waves, even tsunamis, come because of God They obey his voice That's what it says over in Psalm 89 Listen to this Psalm 89, verse number eight Oh Lord God of hosts, who is like the almighty Lord, thy faithfulness also surrounds thee Thou dost rule the swelling of the sea When its waves rise, thou dost still them God rules the sea

He rules the wind He rules the sun He rules it all Romans 11, 36 All things are from him, through him, and to him Folks, we need to understand that God is involved in everything There's nothing that happens that God is not either directly or indirectly involved in Either God is sovereign, rules over the earth, sits on a throne, or he's not God cannot be partially sovereign He can't be sovereign just on the even days of the week and not the odd days He can't just be sovereign during the week and take the weekends off He is sovereign continuously He rules over all things

And that's how we understand the faithfulness of God because of the great illustration of this earth and the universe It all obeys him And God says, this is a faithful witness to you Remember Jeremiah chapter 31? Jeremiah chapter 31 Thus says the Lord, verse 35, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that waves roar, the Lord of hosts is his name You know, every time I go to the beach, I look at the waves and say, you know, the Lord caused that wave And that one, and that one Oh yeah, that one too

And that one, and that one, and that one, and that one You know some come because they come. I mean, come on. I mean, how ridiculous is that? It happens because God causes them God does it all Either God's in everything or God's in nothing He causes all things to happen according to his perfect purpose He rules the universe He's in complete control Folks, that should set your heart at ease You should be able to sit back and say, my God knows what's going on in my life God knows what's happening to me He knows what difficulties I'm going through

He knows what the doctor's report will be tomorrow because he is outside of time He knows Therefore, I trust him. I believe in him because he's sovereign He rules over everything Continue on in Jeremiah 31, verse number 36 It says, if this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever If this universe that I've created ceases to work, Israel will never be saved

So what happened? But, it says, verse 37, thus says the Lord, if the heavens above can be measured, which they can't, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, which they can't, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord If you can measure the heavens, I'll cast off Israel But you can't Why? Because I created them. I'm in charge of them He says, listen, this is the new covenant My salvation is rooted in what God does with Israel, and what God does with Israel is rooted in the heavens

God uses that as an illustration of his faithfulness God's in complete control of all things He rules over all, and that's why his unending character is demonstrated in his word by the fact that, number one, it's finished, and number two, it's faithful His word never fails because it is completed word of God given in its entirety for you and I to function as we need to function That's great encouragement. I hold in my hands, you hold in your hands the most valuable treasure in all the world, in all the world We hold in our hands that unending character that describes our God

Forever a word, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven It's established, it's finished, it's forever, it's final It is the completed revelation of God, and it is so faithful it never, ever fails Never once fails The unending character of God Number two, God's word is hollowed in heaven not only because of its unending character, but because of its undeniable comfort It's undeniable comfort Listen to what the psalmist says If thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction If thy word had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction

That tells you something, doesn't it? When affliction comes, and adversity comes, and you can't handle it, it's because God's word is not your delight If God's word's your delight, you won't perish You'll stand strong, because the greatest thing in all the world is what you hold in your hands this evening, the word of God See, I just think that's so important

You know, this is why people ask, you know, why don't you use PowerPoint and put the verses up on the screen? That is just so, that is just so kindergarten-ish. I mean, come on. I want people to be able to hold in their hands the inerrant, authoritative word of God, and to be able to look at it and to read it. I want people to carry their Bibles and to read their Bibles and to study their Bibles, not look up on a screen and see a verse up there You see, it's important for us to realize that the psalmist understood two things

The undeniable comfort is seen, number one, is because God's word encouraged us in times of adversity, anxiety, and difficulty God's word encourages us in times of difficulty, adversity, and anxiety You know, God didn't leave us helpless He left us his word to search, to seek, to study, to learn, and God uses his word in a supernatural way in your life and in mine The psalmist has already talked about the comfort of God Verse 50 of Psalm 119, he said these words This is my comfort and my affliction, that thy word has revived me

He said over in verse number 52, I have remembered thy ordinances from old, O Lord, and I comfort myself In verse number 76, he said these words Oh, may thy lovingkindnesses comfort me according to thy word to thy servant And then, of course, over in verse number 82, he said my eyes fare with longing for thy word while I say, when wilt thou comfort me? God's word encourages us in times of adversity, in times of anxiety, in times of difficulty God's word is that one thing that undeniably gives comfort There's nothing else it does

Oh, there might be something that will take your mind off of your difficulty, but it will ultimately comfort your soul Let me give you a few illustrations Go back to Genesis chapter 32 with me for a second Genesis chapter 32, Jacob's going back to Bethel Jacob's been with Laban for 20 years Jacob is going back to Bethel because God called him to go back He's gonna be obedient to the call of God in his life But there's one problem For him to go back, he has to go through Mount Seir And there's somebody he knows who lives there It's his brother Esau

So he hasn't seen Esau in 20 years, and Esau has made a vow that he is going to kill Jacob Now, do you think God knows that? I would venture to say that God already knew that But God called him back to the land of promise And God is so good Let's know what God does, verse number one Now, as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him They didn't just appear to him They actually met him The language is very important He's going back to the land of promise He's going back to where he needs to be, and the angels of the Lord meet him

Now, can you imagine that? Can you imagine you're going to do what God says, and God sends all these angels to meet you? The Bible says, and Jacob said when he saw them, this is God's camp This is God's camp So he named that place Mahanaim, which means two companies or two camps Speaking of the fact that there is two companies, one before him and one behind him, as if God was surrounding him to show him, you're doing what I've asked Therefore, I'm going to protect you You have nothing to worry about

But Jacob, just like you and me, even though God gives us the promise, even though God demonstrates his faithfulness to us, we still well up with anxiety on the inside We still worry about what someone is gonna do to us anyway We're still worried about whether someone's gonna kill us or slander us or say something against us, and Jacob's that way And so it says in verse number three, then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom

He also commanded them saying, thus you shall say to my lord Esau, big problem, why, because the older is to serve the younger Here, the younger was subjecting himself to the older And then it says, thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now, and I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants, and I have sent to tell my lord that I may find favor in your sight And the messengers returned to Jacob saying, we came to your brother Esau We did exactly what you told us to do Told him about the donkeys, servants, male and female

We did exactly like you said And furthermore, he is coming to meet you And not only is he coming to meet you, he's bringing with him 400 men Jacob is in high anxiety for seven And Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed And he divided the people who were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two companies For he said, if Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape He seeks to do things his way. I'll divide them into two companies

If Esau comes and decides to destroy me and what God has done with me, then at least one of the companies will escape and be saved And remember, God met him with angels God sent the angels to meet him, to show him his protective purposes But Jacob was distressed because his brother's coming with 400 men What's he gonna do? He prays

Verse number nine, and Jacob said, oh God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, oh Lord, who didst say to me, return to your country and to your relatives and I will prosper you. I am unworthy of all the loving kindness and of all the faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant and for with my staff only I cross this Jordan and now I have become two companies Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him lest he come and attack me, the mothers with the children

For thou didst say, I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered from multitude When Jacob went to prayer, he prayed the word of God He prayed to God based on what God had already spoken to him that God was gonna prosper him, that God was gonna make his descendants as the sand of the sea God had made that promise His only encouragement would come through what God had said Folks, that's it That's all there is Read the book of Joshua

In the book of Joshua, you have a man who was completely sold out to God and completely committed to doing what God had said Why? Because God said to Joshua, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you And so when you come to the end of Joshua, Joshua says these words in 23, verse number 14 Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed All have been fulfilled for you Not one of them has failed God never failed

Every word that God spoke, everything that God said concerning us and what was gonna happen in this land happened just like he said All you gotta do is read Hebrews 11, the great hall of faith By faith, Enoch By faith, Abraham By faith, Noah By faith, Moses It was all by faith, all believing in what God said That was the only thing they could hold onto That was their encouragement during times of adversity, times of anxiety and times of difficulty They held onto the word of God because there was nothing else to hold onto

And even though they had not received the promise, they kept looking for that city They kept looking toward the one who was the architect of that city, whose maker was God himself because they had nothing else but the word that he had spoken to them And now the psalmist in Psalm 119 says, if thy law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction Let me ask you a question Is God's word your delight? Psalm spoke about that in verse number 14, verse number 16, verse 35, verse 47, verse 70, verse 77, verse 111, verse 162, verse 174 It was all about delighting in the law of God

What do you delight in? Psalmists would delight in the word of God If thy word was not my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I would have never made it But see, God's word was already his delight And because it was already his delight, he could handle the persecution and the problems He was ready to face them Oh, were they difficult? Yes, they were Were they hard upon him emotionally? Yes, they were But he could face them because he would delight himself in the word of God

What do you delight in? What is the greatest delight of your soul? Remember Jeremiah? When God told Jeremiah to go and represent him and to speak for him and to tell people about him and think, man, this is great. I'm gonna tell the people of God about God and God says, I'm just not gonna listen to you, Jeremiah No one's gonna listen, no one's gonna follow And Jeremiah said, oh, but thy words are found and I did eat them and they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart

It was good enough that God had spoken and that God had given the promises and that God was faithful to fulfill those promises even though the people never listened That's what he needed That's what he would hold on to And Jeremiah was a great prophet of God because he could hold on to the fact that the words of God would delight his soul And folks, sometimes in a marriage that's broken, the only thing that keeps you going is the word that delights your soul

Sometimes when you're in a situation when things are so bad for you physically, the only thing that keeps you going is the fact that God's word delights your soul That's it Or you would perish in your affliction And we need to be the kind of people who delight in the word of God It means more to us than anything in the world You gotta be honest There are so many temporal things that mean much more to us than the word of God But they shouldn't because they're temporal They're fleeting They're passing away But God's word is unending And because it is, it's undeniable

It's undeniable in the comfort that it gives So it encourages us in times of adversity and in times of anxiety and times of difficulty And it enables us to live victoriously, joyously, and eternally It enables us to live victoriously Listen to what the psalmist said He says, I will never forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast revived me, or thou hast quickened me, or thou hast enlivened me. I'll never forget them

There he goes again, saying the same thing he said last week and the week before. I'm never gonna forget the word of God. I'm just not gonna forget it because it's the word that has quickened me It's given me life And so it enables me to live victoriously It enables me to live the way God wants me to live That's why I love 1 Peter 2, verse number six, which quotes Isaiah 28, verse number 16 He who believes in him shall never be disappointed Isaiah says same thing except a different word He who believes in him shall never be disturbed In the Hebrew, it means shall never be in a hurry

If you believe in God, you're never in a hurry to leave God You're never in a hurry to run away from God You're never disturbed by what God does because God is all you got And that's what the psalmist is saying here It enables me to live a life that's victorious, that's joyous, that's eternal because God's word gives life It's a life-giving word When everybody was leaving Christ, he looks to his men in John six and says, are you guys gonna go away too? And Peter says, where are we gonna go? You have the words of eternal life You have life-giving words Your words do more than just save us

They sustain us They satisfy our every need Where else are we gonna go? Fishing? What else can we do? And everybody would turn away except for just a few because they realized the value of the word of God It enabled them to live a victorious life And then number three, God's word is hollowed in heaven because of its unparalleled content Listen to this, this is so rich He says, I am thine. I am thine. I'm yours He's God's He's owned by God Now think about that for a moment He is, oh, I'm yours. I'm yours, God

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16 that we are no longer our own, but we are God's because we've been bought with a price God owns us. 1 Corinthians 3, verse number 23 says we belong to God Boy, what a great phrase You belong to God If you're a Christian, you belong to God He purchased you, he bought you, you are his. 1 Peter 2 says that we are a chosen generation We are a special people Why? Because God chose us We are his by creation We are his by election, and we are his by redemption God owns us God chose me Now think about that

We've all been in the playground area where we choose teams, and you gotta go around and say, well, I'll take that guy, and that guy takes that one, and that person takes that one, and the other guy takes that one, and then there's somebody left standing there all by themself, and somebody has to take them because they're the last one But listen, in the kingdom of God, nobody's the last one because we were chosen before the foundation of the world God chose us all at the same time We were all chosen first Nobody was chosen last We were all chosen first We're his We're owned by God

And the psalmist says, I know you own me. I'm yours. I am thine Lord, you own me. I'm yours You know, I can't think of any better phrase in all the Bible that says that I belong to God Think about that. I own a lot of things. I own a lot of things Own a couple cars. I'm trying to think of what I own And not much, I guess, don't I? But anyway, I own some things, okay? But the things I own aren't really very valuable. I own a toothbrush You own a toothbrush? I own a toothbrush, but it's not very valuable Oh, it's valuable to me, but it's not valuable to you Napoleon had a toothbrush once

It sold for $21,000 Can you imagine that? $21,000 for an old rickety toothbrush It was valuable because of whose it was, right? Now you think about how valuable you are because God owns you You're God's. I am thine, save me, he says What a great prayer Save me, Lord You have to save me because I'm yours And I need you to save me He's not talking about eternal salvation, salvation from sin He's talking about saving him from his persecutors, from his adversaries Lord, I'm yours Save me This is his plea Oh, you know, you go and you go back to John 17 Oh, my time is fleeting by so fast

In John 17, listen to the prayer of Christ This is so good You know why I am the Lord's? I am the Lord's because his father, my father, my heavenly father, gave me to Jesus Think about it Jesus owns me because his father, my father, your father gave us to him Listen to this, John 17 Verse six, I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world Hm, thine they were, and thou gavest them to me And they have kept thy word Now they have come to know that everything thou hast given me is from thee For the words which thou gavest me, I give unto them

And they receive them and truly understand that I came forth from thee and they believe that thou didst send me. I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom thou hast given me For they are thine and all things that are mine are thine and thine are mine and I have been glorified in them Wow, that is just so rich They were yours, father, before they were mine and you gave them to me Love that hymn by Fanny Crosby. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice and have told thy love to me, but I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee

Because I'm yours, Lord, I just wanna be closer to you. I wanna know more about you. I wanna know all there is to know about who you are because I'm yours You know me You know me intimately Lord, I wanna know you all. I wanna be drawn closer to you Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side What a beautiful hymn that describes the fact that God owns us. I am yours Wow, what a blessed, blessed truth It says, save me Save me

Those who are owned by God can cry that way because he is the one who saves And so you go from the plea to the protection He says, I am thine, save me, for I have sought thy precepts Oh, by the way, how do you know you're God's? You know you're owned by God because you seek his precepts That's always the way it is He says, I am thine, save me, for I have sought thy precepts Listen to what Paul said over in Acts 27, verse number 23 He says, for this very night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve If you belong to him, you serve him

If you belong to him, you seek him. I am thine. I have sought thy precepts The characteristic, the main characteristic, the ironclad assurance that you know you're owned by God is that there's that innate desire to seek his precepts That's how you know And that's what the psalmist was. I am thine Save me, for I have sought thy precepts The wicked wait for me to destroy me. I shall diligently consider thy testimonies The wicked lie in wait to destroy me Lord, I need your protection And I diligently seek your testimonies It wasn't that he would just sporadically seek them

He would diligently seek the testimonies of God There was a sense of intensity about his seeking There was a drive and a passion, behind him looking for what God was going to say He wanted to know. I diligently consider every one of your testimonies. I weigh them into balance, because they are the only thing that will sustain me when my enemy wants to destroy me That's it God's word is hallowed in heaven because of its unending character, its undeniable comfort, its unparalleled content And then lastly, it's unlimited commandments Verse 96, I have seen a limit to all perfection

Thy commandment is exceedingly broad In other words, I have seen an end. I have seen a limit to everything, but yet I have not seen the limit to your commandments because they are exceedingly broad There is no limit to them They go on and on and on In other words, what God's word does, nothing else can do It can't. I have seen an end of everything. I love the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes chapter two He says, I said to myself, come now, I will test you with pleasure

So enjoy yourself, and behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, it is madness, and of pleasure, what does it accomplish? I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. I enlarged my works. I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards for myself. I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest to growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and I had home-born slaves

Also, I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem Also, I collected for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers, and the pleasures of men, many concubines Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem My wisdom also stood by me, and all that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor

Thus, I considered all my activities which my hands had done, and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was empty and striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun Solomon said, I did everything I wanted to do Whatever my eyes looked upon, I did not refuse. I built ponds, I built gardens, I built houses, I got slaves, I got money, I got more money, then I got more money. I got more chariots, I got more horses, I got more of this, I got more of that, I got everything, and all of a sudden, I realized that everything was just like soap bubbles

You ever seen soap bubbles? They're just kinda here, and then, pop, they're gone Everything in life was just empty There was nothing to it It's all vanity, it's all empty Striving after the wind Folks, we live our lives to gain more of this, to get more of that, to further our education, to further our financial stability We just work our tails off to do all this for what? For what? And all the while, we can let God's word go by the wayside We can let those things that are of eternal value just go to waste in our own lives because we are so busy striving after the wind

The psalmist says, everything has a limit except one thing, the commandments of God The word of God, they are boundless, they are endless They are forever settled in heaven Folks, we need to spend more time investing to the word of God We need to spend more time memorizing, studying, diving into the word of God that we might know God and grow in the grace and knowledge of God There is nothing, nothing in life more important than the book you hold in your hand Let's pray Father, we thank you for this day and all that you've done Thank you for your word that so truly speaks to our lives

May we, Lord Jesus, follow your word May we be like the psalmist and recognize that we are owned by you What a joy, what a great reward to be owned by God And may we, Lord, because we're owned by you, seek your precepts, follow you with all of our hearts, in Jesus' name, amen.