The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Scripture, Part 3

So let's pray together Lord, we thank you that we can come tonight to adore your great character Thank you for who you are and all that you've done Tonight, Lord, you're going to teach us much about what we should do during times of difficulty and hardship You're going to teach us, Lord, about the importance of your word And I pray that our hearts and minds would be receptive to the things you're going to teach us That we might be able to walk in the light of that glorious gospel We pray in Jesus name Amen

Tonight we want to continue looking at the sufficiency and supremacy of scripture by way of an introduction to Psalm 119 We're helping you understand how important God's word is to your life By helping you come to grips with the fact that God's word is purposeful and God's word is powerful There's nothing more powerful than the word of God We've also helped you understand that God's word is personal and penetrating Because it's purposeful and powerful, it penetrates to the depths of man's soul It opens up that soul so that the Lord and you are able to understand all that's there

And God's word penetrates the soul It's so personal to each and every one of us because it's like God wrote that specific word for you And for me And tonight we're going to cover that third aspect of why God's word is sufficient and why God's word is supreme And that is this, that God's word is precious and pleasing God's word is precious and pleasing Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 19 Psalm 19 verse number 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring 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 judgments of the Lord are true They are righteous altogether They are more desirable than gold Yes, than much fine gold Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb Moreover, by them my servant is warned, in keeping them there is great reward God's word is so precious and so pleasing to the soul of a man, to the soul of a woman, that it is the greatest comfort known to man. I wonder if you understand how precious God's word is, how pleasing it is to the soul

You know, I come in contact with a lot of people and those people talk to me about their lives And you know, many people that I come in contact with have absolutely no interest in the things of the word of God And maybe you're one of those people. I don't know We want a relationship with the living Lord We want to be able to walk with Him, but we look for Him in every place other than where He is found the most His word Listen to what one author said a number of years ago

He wrote this, harassed by life, exhausted, we look about us for somewhere to be quiet, to be genuine, a place of refreshment We yearn to restore our spirits in God, to simply let go in Him and gain new strength to go on living But we fail to look for Him where He is waiting for us, where He is to be found in His Son who is His word Or else we seek for God because there are a thousand things we want to ask Him and imagine that we cannot go on living unless they are answered

We inundate Him with problems, with demands for information, for clues, for an easier path, forgetting that in His word He has given us the solution to every problem and all the details we are capable of grasping in this life We fail to listen where God speaks, where God's word rang out in the world once for all, sufficient for all ages, inexhaustible Or else we think that God's word has been heard on earth for so long that by now it is almost used up That is about time for some new word as if we had the right to demand one We fail to see that it is we ourselves who are used up and alienated

Whereas the word resounds with the same vitality and freshness as ever, it is just as near to us as it always was God's word is so close to you and me and God speaks to us through His word And every need that you have, every solution to every problem you face is found in His word. I believe that. I believe in the sufficiency and supremacy of scripture. I don't doubt that for one moment And yet many people just are not there They don't believe that

And they go to God like the writer says and they go and they ask Him for all kinds of things and almost demand answers from Him, but never go to His word to find Him and see only Him And that's because they don't see God's word as precious and pleasing to their soul Let me give you four ways that will help you understand how precious God's word is to you so that you will be pleased with the word of God as you have never been pleased with it before Four ways Number one, God's word is precious and pleasing because it comforts the soul It comforts the soul

There is nothing that comforts your soul like the word of God And you know what? Our souls need comfort Eliphaz, one of those infamous counselors for Job in chapter 5 verse number 7 said these words, man is born for trouble as sparks fly upwards That's true Our lives are full of trouble, full of turmoil Job would go on to say in Job chapter 14 verse number 1, man who was born of a woman is short-lived and full of turmoil That basically sums up life We don't live very long and the life we live is full of turmoil

Jeremiah said, Jeremiah 20 verse number 18, Why did I ever come forth from the womb to look on trouble and sorrow so that my days have been spent in shame? The Bible speaks to the truth about man's disillusionments, man's disappointments, man's depressions, man's discomfort, man's affliction, man's sorrow, pain, ills, all kinds of difficulties God's word speaks to that because many, many words in the scriptures speak of men who suffered greatly In fact, words like these, Job would cry out in in Job chapter 13 verse number 24

Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? Job having all kinds of difficulties in his life, having lost his children, having lost his home, having lost his livelihood, having lost his health, looks to God and asks, why are you my enemy? The psalmist said, why do you stand too far off? Psalm 10 verse number 1, why do you stand too far off, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Do you ever experience trouble in your life and try to figure out where God is and try to help understand, God, why are you hiding from me? Why aren't you at my disposal? Psalmist would go on to say in chapter 44 verse 24

Why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? Sometimes when we go through affliction over a long period of time and it's hard on us, we wonder if God has forgotten about us So the sons of Korah in Psalm 44 would ask the question, why have you forgotten us amidst our affliction, amidst our oppression? The prophet Isaiah affirmed in Isaiah 45 verse number 15, truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, Savior The conclusion is, God, you hide from us You're not there We can't see you

And because we can't see you, feel you, touch you, you must be hiding from us Even the great psalmist David, a man after God's own heart, had moments of doubt and discouragement when he said in chapter 13 verse number 1 of Psalms, How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Many people over the years that I have counseled have said those exact same words to me They go through a heartache and they can't find God anywhere And they don't understand why

And they have a hard time living from day to day because of the hardship and affliction that they are facing And they have yet to come to grips with the fact that God's word is precious and pleasing to the soul And God's word is so precious that it comforts that troubled soul unlike anything you've ever seen. I firmly believe that. I wonder if you believe that. I wonder if you understand how great God's word is to comfort your troubled soul Listen to what Paul said over in 1 Corinthians, I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse number 3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comforts Paul calls God the Father of all mercies and he calls him the God of all comfort Paul, who went through much affliction, much sorrow, much pain, in fact, he was told by God through Ananias the prophet, tell Saul how much he must suffer for my name's sake And yet Paul would know God as the Father of mercies He would know him as the God of all comfort He understood what David said in 2 Samuel 24 14 Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for his mercies Are great

He understood what the psalm was said in Psalm 86 15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth The Lord is compassionate and gracious He knew what the psalm was said in Psalm 103 verse number 8 That the Lord God was slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness And then just as the Father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him The loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him Paul realized that his God was the Father of mercies

In other words, whenever there was misery present, God specialized in demonstrating his mercy And Paul experienced that That's why he calls him the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, because the only one who can comfort your soul is the one who is the Father of all mercy The one who's filled with loving kindness And so Paul would say that this God of all comfort, verse 4, who comforts us in all our affliction, or in other words in all our pressures, in midst all of our distress, God is the one who comforts us

So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God Paul understood the Father of mercies comforts us so that in turn we will be able to tell people about his mercy and how he comforted us Because there are others who need comfort Paul realized the lesson that most of us never learn and that is we go through hardship so God will comfort us that we might be able to comfort other people who go through a similar hardship

God has a greater purpose at stake than just our affliction and what's happening in the present in our lives It moves way beyond that And Paul got it Paul realized that, that this Father of mercies was the God of all comfort who in his own way would comfort his people so that they would comfort others Verse 5, for just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, he says, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ In other words, the greater the suffering the greater the comfort In fact, the greater hardship you have the more God wants to bestow his comfort upon your life

And then he says, verse 6, but if we are afflicted it is for your comfort and salvation He got it If we have affliction, it's it's for your sake that somehow you might receive comfort and salvation He says, or if we are comforted it is for it is for your comfort which is effective in the patient enduring for the same sufferings which we also suffer Paul says, if I'm afflicted it's for your benefit If I'm comforted it's for your benefit That's the way it works He is the God of all comfort

So the question comes, how does God comfort his people? How is God going to minister to us, the father of mercies, minister to us in our deepest hour of affliction? How does God do that? We know, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7, verse number 6, that God is the one who comforts the depressed We know from Acts 9, verse 31, that the early church experienced the comfort from the Holy Spirit And we also know from 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, that it is God our Father who has loved us and given us an eternal comfort and good hope by grace

So we know what the Bible says about the God of comfort, bestowing comfort We know the Spirit of God is the great comforter that God would send to indwell our lives So how is it the Spirit of God, who is that great comforter, and the God of all comfort, who is the father of mercies, bestow that mercy on us that we might experience the comfort of Almighty God? That's the question Answer, Psalm 119 Psalm 119, verse number 49, Remember the word to thy servant, in which thou hast made me hope This is my comfort in my affliction, that thy word has revived me

The psalmist knew, this is my comfort in my affliction What is this comfort amidst his affliction? That it's your word that quickens me It's your word that revives me Verse 52, I have remembered thine ordinances from of old, O Lord, and comfort myself Now think about that The psalmist knew how to comfort himself So many times we want others to come alongside of us and comfort us

But the psalmist knew the key, that somehow the comfort would come through the ordinances of God, through his word, through his statutes, through his precepts, and he would learn to comfort himself through the word that was given to him Listen to verse 76 of Psalm 119, O may thy loving-kindness comfort me according to thy word to thy servant So there we see the psalmist realizing that the loving-kindness of God, the mercy of God, comforts him How? According to the word of God If you read on in Psalm 119, it says this in verse number 81, My soul languishes for thy salvation. I wait for thy word

My eyes fail with longing for thy word while I say when wilt thou comfort me? You see, he is looking for comfort in only one spot And that is the word of Almighty God And that's where we ourselves need to find the comfort It comes from God and his word So let me give you an illustration Let me give you a couple of illustrations Hopefully that will ring home with all of you It was this past summer when I was at home, I received a phone call And it was from Virginia, who is our wedding coordinator, Virginia Benson

She called me and she said, Lance, I need to let you know that the bridegroom's father has just died. I said, excuse me She said, the bridegroom's father, Jonathan Hall's father has just died This was the night of the rehearsal dinner So I got changed and came over to be here at the church realizing that Jonathan Hall, who's with us this evening, his father went home to be with the Lord during the rehearsal dinner Now, I don't know about you, but I've never experienced anything like that before The very next day was the wedding

Jonathan's mother, Valida, of course, was here through the rehearsal and then the next day at the wedding And you probably don't know Valida Hall very well. I didn't know her very well And yet God was doing a great work in Valida's life Well, we know that this past weekend, we had a memorial service for Rae Ann Cisneros And of course, she's the mother-in-law of Jonathan And she went home to be with the Lord And of course, Valida was here, but Valida had written a letter to Ernie Cisneros

She had written a letter to him not too long ago that I want to read to you this evening that will help you understand how it is the Word of God is precious and pleasing in the heart of one who has lost their loved one and comforts the soul of those who are lonely Listen to what she wrote to Ernie just a couple of weeks ago She says, As you said in our most recent phone conversation, this is a journey that you must go through

No one but God understands the personal grief that you bear. I thought I would write you concerning some of the ways that the Lord used to carry me through Jeff's death and my ongoing grief. I have often wondered how grief would lessen. I never prepared for grieving for my spouse. I had grieved when my mother died And there are still times even after more than 10 years that a sneaker wave of grief snatches me But the loss of a spouse is different It was almost like something physical

Yet I know it was not. I felt a physical and spiritual emptiness within my chest for many weeks that is difficult to explain. I remember feeling at the wedding like I was surprised I could breathe How can you breathe when everything within you has just been taken out? But here the grace of God was manifested The blessed Holy Spirit works alongside our spirit as one who comforts or encourages and makes up for those spiritual holes that we enjoy sharing with our mates and that no longer exist here In this past year, I have thought a lot about heaven

God has filled my heart with a huge desire to be there. I often wonder about Jeff and now Rayanne and their intermediate bodies and the great joy they are sharing in the presence of the Lord What a time our beloved ones must be having there Sometimes I long for Jeff to be with me yet I would never want to take him from the wonders of the heaven of our perfect God Sometimes there is a sense of abandonment that goes with the death of a mate God, why did you leave me alone? Missing someone brings great loneliness It is a loneliness that comes from missing that specific person

Sometimes the void seems so great that it can't be filled All of those intimate details of life between two people are constant reminders of what is missing. A thousand little things trigger the sense of the presence of the one who is gone. A song, a passage of scripture, a ringing phone For me, the phone was difficult Jeff used to call me every day at work Sometimes multiple times He would call me on my cell phone when he knew I was on my way home from work or when I was on a trip He always kept in touch frequently throughout the day

God has sustained me with the promise of Hebrews 13, 5 and 6. I will never leave you nor never forsake you so that we may with good cheer know the Lord is a helper to me The sheer fact that the three persons of the Godhead are present helps fill the void We are not abandoned God helps in a multitude of ways Truly I can say God is my help. I have so enjoyed the comforting ministry of the Holy Spirit in a multitude of ways Sometimes he brings a verse to mind when I need it

At other times when reading the word of God a divine word of encouragement for a specific part of grief jumps out and grabs my heart providing solace. I found it so important to be spiritual more than at any other time in my life. I thirsted for God's word to know more about who he is, understand his character In July after all the work of packing the Salem house was done and prior to the move I spent four days in the coast by myself, just God and me. I was lonely but never felt alone. I wanted to spend time reading the word and allow time to drink from his well It was so refreshing

In the busyness of the past year with the move, Jonathan's graduation, the wedding, etc. I really needed this time of refreshing. I would encourage you to take the time for this For the past two years you have been under extreme duress and taking the time to drink from the fountain that never shall run dry gives renewed perspective and energy to handle what lies ahead When we need him the most we find him to be the source of filling the need in abundance Now there is a woman who experienced the comfort of the word of God

The comforting ministry of the spirit of God as she would feast upon God's word and learn to thirst for the word of God She has found the word of God to be precious and pleasing in her life. I wonder if you have found that to be true If you haven't it's not the word of God's fault It's not God's fault On Sunday, I will share with you a little bit about the death of my first wife a number of years ago when she died of cancer We've been married for four and a half years She contacted cancer and the Lord took her home

After her death there were a lot of people who came to me and said pastor we think you need to be a part of a grief group. I said what? They said a grief group, you know some where you get together with other men who have lost their wives and other women who have lost their husbands and and you're able to sit around together and and and share your griefs together It's called the grief group We have some we'd like to recommend to you. I said no, thank you They said why? I said because I'm a part of another group They said really? What group is that? I said I'm a part of the God group

They said the what? I said the God group Have you heard of the God group? They said no, what's the God group? Well, there's God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and me It's called the God group God who's the father of mercies, who's the God of all comfort, who gives us his Son who is the Word of God and the Spirit of God to comfort our souls when we go through grief. I'm a part of the God group Why would I want to be part of the grief group? See what's in the name is very important, right? Grief group just sounds negative

Grief group, what's that? I'm a part of the God group and I have the comfort that I receive from the Word of God that enables me to continue on And so I don't want to stay and I didn't understand and people were like, you're wacko And they weren't the first people to say that and they're not going to be the last people to say that And I might be wacko, but let me tell you something what God did in my life God did something so good in my life through the death of my first wife that changed and altered my view of the Word of God

That helped me understand how precious and pleasing God's Word is to me Psalm 119 Listen to this And we'll cover it in great detail in weeks ahead Verse 67, before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your Word Before I was afflicted I did my own thing. I did this. I did that. I went here. I went there. I just kind of went astray, but now, but now the psalmist says, I keep your Word There is something about affliction There is something about distress There is something about hardship There is something about illness

There is something about pain that God uses in my life that drives me to Him and drives me to the Word of God And when I am driven to God's Word, I am able to find there what I cannot find anywhere else And that is true and honest and biblical comfort You can't find it in a group of people who sit around and ponder how great their pain is. I would rather sit around and wonder how great my God is Because the very next verse says, what? Verse 68, thou art good and doest good The psalmist realized that even amidst his affliction that God was good

And if God is good, that means everything He does is good and not bad See, the psalmist realized that And how did he realize that? It's because the affliction drove him to the Word of God And when he was reading the Word of God and studying the Word of God, he was able to come to grips with the character of Almighty God And you, listen, when you realize how precious and pleasing God is, you know that He is truly good And that's what the psalmist came up with That's where the psalmist found his life

And then he says at the end of verse number 68, teach me thy statutes. I want to know more. I can't get enough Lord, I got to have more of who you are. I got to understand what it is you do and why you do it But before he was afflicted, he went astray But now he keeps the Word of God And what is his conclusion? God is good And God does good See that? I wonder if you've come to understand that God's Word is that which comforts the longing soul Your spouse can't do it Your parents can't do it Your children can't do it But God can do it And only God can

Because the deepest needs, the deepest void that you have cannot be filled by any human person It can only be filled by God And God uses His Word The God of all comfort uses the Word that brings comfort through the Spirit who is the comforter to console the troubled soul That's the way it works It's just that basic But so many times when we grieve, or when we hurt, or when there's pain in our lives, no matter what the extent or no matter what the circumstance, we don't find ourselves being driven to the Word of God

We find ourselves filling the void with other things, other activities, somehow to camouflage the pain and the hurt that's there But the only way to truly deal with the grief that you have is not to join a grief group God forbid Have mercy on our poor lost souls It's to be a part of the God group To be a part of who He is That's why the psalmist said that he would learn to comfort himself. I remembered that order to the vault and that's how I received my comfort It wasn't because somebody else comforted him It's because of the Word of God

Now it is true that God will use another person to enlighten you through the Word of God, but it's not that person necessarily who comforts you as much as His understanding of the Word of God being bestowed upon you that brings the comfort That's why Job's counselors were miserable counselors Because they had a wrong perspective of God And they couldn't console the man's soul because they had a misperception of who God is and what God does

But when you have a right perception and you open the Word of God like Valita did when she wrote to Ernie, she was able to explain to him, this is how God fills the emptiness of my heart This is what God is doing now This is what God has done in my life through His Word, through the Spirit of God God's Word is precious and pleasing because it truly comforts the soul Number two, if it comforts the soul, listen carefully, it cheers the soul It cheers the soul There is nothing that gives the soul joy more than the Word of Almighty God Listen once again to what the psalmist said

Psalm 19, verse number eight, the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart Rejoicing the heart Psalm 94, 19, we shared it with you on on Sunday, when my anxious thoughts multiply within me, thy consolations are my delight Psalm 119, verse 24, says this, I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches, verse 16, I shall delight in thy statutes, I shall not forget thy word Verse 24, thy testimonies also are my delight Verse 35, make me walk in the path of thy commandments, for I delight in it Verse 47, and I shall delight in thy commandments, which I love

Verse 70, their heart is covered with fat, but I delight in thy law Verse 77, may thy compassion come to me that I may live, for thy law is my delight Verse 92, if thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction You see, if God's word is not going to delight my soul, I'm going to perish But God's word does do that Verse 111, I have inherited thy testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart Verse 143, trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet thy commandments are my delight Verse 162, I rejoice at thy word as one who finds great spoil

Verse 174, I long for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight. I don't know how many times a psalmist can say it He just says it over and over and over again It's the law of God It's the testimony of God It's the precepts of God that delight his soul And if they don't delight his soul, he will perish amidst his persecution, amidst his anguish He will not make it The point is you cannot make it without God's word comforting your soul You're not going to make it You're going to fall by the wayside Your life's going to be miserable

Let me tell you something. I've said this so many times to you If we're believers and we have the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts, I talked about it on Sunday afternoon at Ranses Nero's memorial service, about what it is that causes us to rejoice in a time like this We rejoice Why? Because of the reign of God He rules over all He is sovereign and his rulership causes me to rejoice. I rejoice because of the righteousness of God Everything God does is straight and true and right. I rejoice because of the redemption of God

Why? Because he saved my soul. I rejoice at the riches of God because I become an inheritor of all that he has And I rejoice at the revelation of God because it's his word that causes my heart to jump for joy Now the question is is that the way it is for you? I mean, what causes you joy? What really causes you to cheer? What causes you to experience the comfort of almighty God that rises up within you to cause you to have the joy of the Lord? It's got to be the word of God because nothing else lasts There are some superficial things you can do that might make you happy on the outside

But that's why Solomon wrote over in Ecclesiastes 7 verse number 3 Sorrow is better than laughter. I love that verse We got so many comedies on TV, you know, because people got to laugh And the Bible says that sorrow is better than laughter We say laughter is better than sorrow So who's right? Us or God? I would tend to think God is Okay Sorrow is better than laughter Why? He says, For when the face is sad the heart may be happy How does the heart rejoice? It rejoices in the revelation of almighty God It rejoices in the fact that God is true

It rejoices in the fact that God's word is the only thing that comforts my soul and when it does it causes me to experience the joy of almighty God Folks that's the bottom line That's where we need to be The question is how come we're not there? How come we don't get there? Why are we so sad? Why are we so down? Why are we so depressed? Why are we so discouraged? Why can't we get out of bed in the morning? Why do we have such a hard time with life? Answer, it's because the word of God is not precious and pleasing enough in our lives to comfort the soul and to cheer the soul

God's word does that friends It does And we have to come to that point in our life where we throw ourselves upon the father of mercies and plead with him to comfort us amidst our affliction, to comfort us amidst our pain that we might see how precious God's word is And when he does the soul begins to rise with joy and the cheer that's there because of God himself That's how it works That's what the word of God is all about It's about helping us understand that God's in charge

He rules and to rest in the fact that God is sovereign and to rest in the fact that he wants to touch me at the deepest part of my soul and he can only do that as his spirit uses the word of God to comfort me amidst my distress That's the answer That's the truth So if you are in need of consolation God's word comforts the soul If you are in need of excitation God's word cheers the soul And if you are in need of direction, point number three, God's word counsels the soul God's word is so precious and so pleasing that it counsels the soul

Psalm 119 verse number 24 says this, Thy testimonies also are my delight They are my counselors That verse right there saves you thousands of dollars Right there Thy word is so great It is my counselor That's why the psalm was said in psalm 119 verse number 105 these words, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path God's word gives direction It counsels me Verse 130 says this, The unfolding of thy words gives light It gives understanding to the simple You need to underline that verse in red Why? Because the unfolding of God's word gives light

Have you ever wondered why all these people who go to all these churches don't have any idea what they need to be doing? It's because God's word is not being unfolded before them Therefore they have no light to shine on the path before them and therefore they know not what to do They know not where to go They know not what to say God's word, the unfolding of the word of God gives light It gives understanding to the simple. I love that because i'm a simple person. I'm not very complicated And therefore God's word gives understanding to somebody like me

Because God's word is that which counsels us It gives us the direction That's why over in the book of Proverbs, we're to trust in the Lord with all our heart, lean not into our own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths

Well, how is he going to do that? How is it in all your ways you acknowledge him? You are acknowledging that God is true and that in everything you do you seek his understanding of the situation and he will direct your path. I have never ever in almost 50 years of living, which is almost a half a hundred here, have never had a difficult time discerning the will of God Never Where to live, what job to take, when to marry, who to marry Never Why? Because the unfolding of God's word gives light It gives understanding to the simple That's why In all your ways acknowledge him

He will direct your paths If you're not being directed by God, it's because you have not acknowledged him in all of your ways You are not trusting in the Lord God He will counsel you He will direct you He will lead you in the way that you should go That's where God shines so great He wants you Do you think he's trying to hide his will from you? Ha ha You're not gonna It's over here someplace You can't find it Ha ha ha God's not that way He just wants to show it to you We're just looking in the wrong spot That's all We're not seeking his will Listen to Proverbs chapter 6, verse 20

My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother Bind them continually on your heart Tie them around your neck When you walk about, they will guide you When you sleep, they will watch over you And when you awake, they will talk to you. I love that Then it says, for the commandment is lamp and the teaching is light And reproofs for discipline are the way of life to keep you from evil or from the evil woman from the smooth tongue of the adulteress God's commandment gives light It gives light to a dark path So you know where to walk

So you know where to go It's just that simple God's word counsels the soul Listen, if you're having trouble discerning God's will, then the thing you're having trouble discerning God's will in probably is not God's will Just think about that for a moment Because God's will is not hard to discern to the trusting heart God's word or God's will is not hard to find when you obey his word If you're having a hard time discerning God's will for your life, it's probably because you are disobedient to God's word somewhere in your life It's just that simple

Why do we make it so hard? Why do we make it so difficult? We do because we live in disobedience to God We do because we don't acknowledge him in all of our ways We do because we refuse to trust in him and trust something else That's why it's so difficult It's not that hard If we just do what God says, then the unfolding of his word gives light He gives understanding to the simple God wants to do that for you He's not trying to hide things from you He's not trying to make your life difficult any more than it already is He's trying to shed light on what it is you're doing. I love what J.C

Ryle wrote He wrote a book called Thoughts for Young Men Great book Listen to what he says He says, for another thing, determine as long as you live to make the Bible your guide and advisor The Bible is God's merciful provision for sinful man's soul The map by which he must steer his course If he would attain eternal life, all that we need to know in order to make us peaceful, holy, or happy is there, richly contained If a young man wants to know how to begin life well, let him hear what David says How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to the word of God Psalm 199

Young man, I challenge you to make a habit of reading the Bible and not to let the habit be broken Let not the laughter of companions Let not the bad customs of the family you may live in Let none of these things prevent your doing it Determine that you will not only have a Bible, but also make time to read it too Permit no man to persuade you that it is only a book for Sunday school children and old women It is the book from which King David got wisdom and understanding It is the book which young Timothy knew from his childhood Never be ashamed of reading it

Do not despise the word. I dwell on these things more because this is an age of reading, of making many books There seems no end Though few of them are really profitable, there seems a rage for cheap printing and publishing Newspapers of every sort abound, and the tone of some which have the widest circulation speaks badly for the taste of the age Amidst the flood of dangerous reading, I plead for my master's book. I call upon you not to forget the book of the soul Let not newspapers, novels, and romances be read while the prophets and apostles lie despised

Let not the exciting and lustful swallow up your attention while the edifying and the sanctifying can find no place in your mind Young man, give the Bible the honor Do it every day you live Whatever you read, read that first, and beware of bad books There are plenty in this day Take heed what you read. I suspect there is more harm done to souls in this way than most people have an idea possible Value all books in proportion as they are agreeable to scripture Those that are nearest to it are the best, and those that are farthest from it, and most contrary to it, are the worst That's good advice

But say, Sirael knew that that the word of God is that which advises the soul It counsels the soul It gives you words of wisdom It talks to you about your life It helps you understand the decisions that need to be made It helps you to understand the direction you need to be going See, that's what God's word That's why it's sufficient, and that's why it's supreme Why? Because it is precious and pleasing to the soul Why? Because it comforts me amidst all my affliction It comforts me when I need consolation And when it comforts me, it cheers me, and that gives me an excitation

It gives me a sense of joy and jubilation And then it counsels me in the way that I should go so that I can have a clear direction as to what I need to be doing And number four, it compels the soul It absolutely compels the soul Once it comforts me, it cheers me Once it cheers me, it counsels me And if it counsels me, it compels me Not only does God's word tell me what to do, it moves me to do it That's really good Why? Because you know what? Sometimes we get a hard time getting off the dime, right? But God's word is that which compels me and moves me to obedience

Listen to what the psalmist said Once again, Psalm 119 Verse number seven. I shall give thanks to thee with uprightness of heart when I learn thy righteous judgments Lord, when I learn about your judgments, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to praise you See, learning about the judgments of God cause me, compel me, motivate me to praise his glorious name Verse 172 says the exact same thing It says, Let my tongue sing of thy word for all thy commandments are righteous Because your commandments are righteous, my tongue is going to sing of you

God's word compels me to praise his glorious name God's word compels me to live a pure and holy life Psalm 119 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to the word Verse 11 Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against thee Psalm 101, 119-101 says this. I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep thy word God's word compels me to live a life of praise To live a life of purity God's word compels me to proclaim the truth Verse number 46. I will also speak of thy testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed

Why? Because God's word compels me to speak about who you are Verse number 92 God's word compels me and moves me to persevere It says this If thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction God's word causes me, motivates me, to not give up To never quit. I like this one God's word not only compels me to to praise him, to live a purified life, to proclaim him, to persevere with him It causes me to pant after him Psalm 119-131. I opened my mouth wide and panted for I longed for thy commandments That's so good

When was the last time you longed for something? You panted after something The question is what did you pant after? Was it the word of God? Now listen to this Deuteronomy chapter 17 Verse 18 Now it shall come about when he, the king, sits on the throne of his kingdom He shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests When a king sits on the throne, his first order of business is to write the law of God Why? It's already been written down

So why does he have to write it? What is writing the law of God going to do for the king as he sits on his throne in his kingdom? Read on And it shall be with him that he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, in order that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel

Why does the king have to write the law of God when he becomes the king? So that he will live the life that God wants him to live God's word is so purposeful and so powerful it will accomplish its objective It is so personal and penetrating that as the king writes out the words of God, the power of God's word begins to penetrate the deepest part of his soul And as it does, he realizes how precious and pleasing the word of God is and it compels him to obey the word of God That's why he has to write it God's word is the most precious thing in all the earth

It is more valuable than all the riches of the world It's more valuable than anything you possess or ever dream of possessing The question is, do you realize its value? Do you realize how great it is? Do you realize it truly is precious and pleasing to the soul? Because it only comforts the soul It can only cheer the soul It can only counsel the soul And it is the only thing that truly compels the soul to live for God Let's pray Lord, we thank you for the truth of your word and the opportunity we've had this evening to once again look at how precious it is

And Lord, I thank you that you've allowed us this opportunity. I pray that that others who will one day listen by way of radio or through tape or cd that they would be touched by the word of almighty God and their lives would be changed and they would begin to experience the true comfort that comes only from your word And the great joy that comes to the soul that's sorrowful And the movement you have in that soul to show them which way to go and to live for you We pray in Jesus name Amen.