I Hope in Your Word – Part 1

Introduction

In my darkest hour, on my worst day, in the lousiest year, I still have so much to be thankful for. And so much to praise God for.

It’s easy, isn’t it, to focus on the negative. Especially when the negative has been highlighted for us and accentuated for us. But I hope that you see that it’s so important to focus on the positive. Several years ago, a congregate was complaining to the preacher. Complaining seemingly about everything. This was in the days when instead of a projector screen behind the pulpit, we had the big white marker boards. The preacher took his friend up to the pulpit, grabbed the black marker, and made just a mark on the board. And said, What do you see? The fellow knew it was a trick question, but he didn’t know the trick, and so he said, just the black mark. To which the preacher replied, That’s the problem. You don’t see all the clean whiteboard around it.

This is the week of Thanksgiving. And it’s an old adage, but I repeat it because I like it. I think we have it backwards. Rather than one national day that we call thanksgiving, I think we should have one national day that we call complaining. And we just complain that day. And every other day of the calendar, we give thanks. And for the Christian, we have so much to give thanks for. Because we have such a wonderful one to whom we offer that thanks. I don’t have a thanksgiving sermon per se, but I did want to highlight one thing for which we should give thanks. And maybe this week, or maybe every week of your life, you will or you should make a list. To literally do what the song says, count your many blessings.

And as you make your list of things for which you’re thankful, I’m sure this one would be high on that list. And so I want to talk about the Word of God this morning. And I have two objectives in this lesson. Number one is to highlight something again that should be high on our list of thankful things. But then also I want to encourage you and maybe spur in you or to reawaken in you a passion for the Word of God. To be drawn to God through his inspired word. To encourage you every day to open up God’s message to you.

1. I Hope in Your Word

It is the longest of all the Psalms, and if we reckon it as a chapter in our Bible, it is by far the longest chapter in all of the Bible. It has a hundred and seventy six verses, the 119th Psalm does. A hundred and seventy-six verses. But that’s not the only thing that makes this piece of poetry unique.

And those 22 stanzas, I know you’ve heard this before, but bear with me, those 22 stanzas correspond with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We have 26, they had 22. And each stanza, which each contains eight verses, each line of that stanza will begin with that letter of the Greek alphabet. That’s lost in our English translations, of course. Let’s illustrate this. I’m going to give you a homework assignment for this afternoon. You can do it before our singing tonight, I’m confident. I want you to write a poem. Did you ever have to do that in school? Write a poem. I want you to write a poem this afternoon with 176 verses. And break those up. I didn’t do the math. What’s 26 divided into 176?

And the first section, every line began with the letter A. And in the second section, every line would start with the letter B, and then C and on down the line. You’d be dreading X, Y, and Z, I’m sure. But it’s just a marvel in literature, isn’t it? That that was accomplished and not just accomplished, because you could do that homework assignment. I could do, even I could do that homework assignment. But it would be lousy poetry. It would not be published in any work of poetry if I wrote a poem like that. But what a marvel. I don’t know if it’s a testament to the skill of the author or a testament to the inspiration of God, the ultimate author. That it was not only accomplished, but it is a beautiful piece of literature, a beautiful piece of poetry.

And it has not only was all of those poetic elements included and accomplished, but it has a singular theme. Each 176 verses talk about one subject. And it’s our subject this morning the word of God. The psalmist uses at least ten synonyms for the word of God. Words like testimonies, commandments, judgments, righteousness, word, law are used. In fact, in all but five verses, in 171 verses, one of those synonyms for the word of God is going to be used. And so the psalmist, when he made his list of thankful things, don’t you imagine the word of God was high on that list. In fact, he said, from which we’ve drawn the title of our lesson this morning, he said in the 147th verse, I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help.

I hope in your word.

Because I’ve been blessed and blessed beyond measure, I’m drawn to your word, which that could be true, but that’s not what he says. He says, Because things are so bad. It may have been the darkest hour of the worst day of the lousiest year of his life when he said, I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help. That he says, I hope in your word. And so whether you’re on a mountaintop, alone, the rest of us in the valley, or whether you’re down in the valley with so many of us, I want us to see that we need to echo the words all a hundred and seventy-six verses of words of the psalmist and say, I hope in your word. I cry for help.

2. Why Do I Read and Study God’s Word?

And I know where that help is found. And so the psalmist, since he says, I’m crying for help, and that help and that hope is found in your word, the psalmist is going to say over and over again, teach me your statutes. That’s a phrase we’re going to see repeated throughout Psalm 119. Teach me your statutes. Now, if we echo those same words, speaking to God, teach me your statutes, teach me your law, teach me your commandments, teach me your judgments, teach me your way, teach me your statutes. Then we need to think about why. Why do I read and study God’s word? I came up with a list, maybe you’ll come up with some more. We maybe sometimes study God’s Word to complete some assignment.

We’ve got a Bible class coming up, and the teacher may call on us, and so we want to have the questions filled out in the workbook. And so we study that chapter or that section of Scripture to complete an assignment. We may do it out of a sense of obligation because we feel like we have to. Or we’re supposed to. The preacher talks a lot about it. There are a lot of articles in the bulletin about reading God’s word and doing it regularly or daily. We have daily Bible readings, and I need to check that box off to make sure I’ve done today’s Bible reading, and so I do it to complete an assignment. I may do it just to learn facts. There’s a lot of information in the pages of this book, and I may do it to learn those things.

I want to know the facts of the Bible. I want to be able to recite the Ten Commandments and to say from memory the judges or the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah or the Ten Plagues. And so I may read the scriptures to accumulate that fact base. I might just read it because it’s good reading. It’s great literature. There are some secular universities that will use the scripture, though they deny its inspiration. They may use it as a source of just great literature to be studied. And by the way, I wouldn’t say any of those are necessarily bad reasons. But I would argue to you this morning, they’re not the primary reasons. Here is what I believe. You come up with your own list.

Here’s what I believe are the primary reasons we should read and study the Word of God is number one, to know our God. We’ll say more about that. We read it to know God. And then secondly, we read and study it to learn His will for our lives. That should be the motivating factor. Again, I would argue all six of these reasons are good reasons to read and study the Word of God. But I would emphasize the last two, I think should take priority of why do I want to open the pages of this book? Because inside these pages are God.

For my life.

3. Because You Are God, Teach Me Your Statutes

And say with the psalmist, because I hope in your word, teach me your statutes. Let’s look at four times in Psalm 119 that he says that phrase teach me your statutes. And look at what I believe is the reason why he will say those things. And let’s ask ourselves two questions as we examine these four verses. Number one is, why did the psalmist say, Teach me your statutes? And why should I want to learn the statutes of God? Let’s go to Psalm 119, verse 12. Do you have your book open with me? Psalm 119, verse 12. And look what he says there. I’m reading from the New King James, and this translation says, Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. Blessed are to be praised, are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes.

I think the psalmist is saying, because you are God, blessed are you, O Lord, because you are who you are, teach me your statutes. The Bible is what we often call it, it’s the Word of God. But when we think about that in a deeper sense, it is the revelation of God. We said that this was the primary reason, or might be the primary reason we would study the Word of God is so that we might know God. I want to offer to you before you, though, God reveals Himself in different ways. He reveals himself in nature. He has placed his image within all of us, but the primary source of our knowledge of God has to be in the Word of God. And so, God, because you are God, teach me your statutes.

I want to know about you.

And so as we read this word, we love God, and as we love Him, we want to know more about Him, and so we read it more. Because in it we find and we see God. We see that He’s all powerful. We see that He’s eternal. We see that He is loving and merciful. And we see that He’s holy. And we see that God has expectations for His people. And we see what He does when those expectations are not met. But we see what He does to extend grace and mercy to those who have failed Him. On every page, we see God. And let’s think of the Scriptures and sometimes study the Scriptures with just that objective. I want to learn something about what does this chapter, what does this book, what does this section teach me about God?

Because every page will do that. God has given us this word to reveal Himself to us. And so let’s use it for that purpose. Open up your Bibles and say, God, show me who you are. God reveals himself in his interaction with man. But understand this, God reveals himself in every commandment. The law itself reveals the lawgiver. Laws reflect the lawgiver. That’s true on a country, national basis, isn’t it? We may look at the laws of the land, some of the laws of the land, and be upset by them. Why is that legal? Why is that discouraged? And why we’re most discouraged and upset by those laws is not because there’s words on the pages somewhere, and not necessarily because there are restrictions or allowances. I think one of the most disturbing things about some ungodly laws that may be upon our books is because they reflect who we generally as a society are.

And so from bottom up and up down, our laws reflect who we are as a nation. So much so that a stranger to our land could learn something about us by looking at our laws, couldn’t they? And so it is with the laws of God. When God condemns something, when God says, thou shalt not to something, that tells us something about God, doesn’t it? When God says, do this, that tells me something about my God. When God says, Thou shalt not take my name in vain. Or God says, You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Or God says you shall not murder. That’s not just a list of do’s and don’ts. That’s a revelation of who God is. When God says, love me with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, when God says, love one another.

And love your enemy. That’s instruction on how to live my life, but it’s also a revelation of who God is. The one who gave those laws. And the only way, hold your finger in Psalm 119 and go to the New Testament, 1 Corinthians chapter 2, let’s understand this. The only way to know God’s words and thoughts, I’m going to 1 Corinthians 2. The only way to know the words of God, the thoughts of God, the mind of God, is by going to his word. 2 Corinthians 2, begin with me in verse 11. It says, For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Let’s pause there. What that’s saying is, I don’t know your mind. I can’t read your mind.

Now let’s think about that. You and I are pretty much alike, aren’t we? I don’t cringe when I say that, but we’re kind of the same, aren’t we? And I can’t read your mind. I can’t know what you’re thinking, only you can. And so he goes on to say, finish verse 11, even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. And so if I cannot know your mind, and you and I are on the same level, can I know the mind of God? Whose level I cannot see or even comprehend. Verse 12, he says, now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. That we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

4. Because You Love Me, Teach Me Your Statutes

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Some translations say spiritual things with spiritual words. You can’t know the mind of God. Unless he lets you know. Unless he reveals his mind, and he does that through his word. And so I study his word. I say to God, teach me your statutes, because God, I want to know you. And this is the only way I can. The psalmist expresses our heart when he says, Teach me your statues. And look at Psalm 119, verse 64. The 119th Psalm, verse 64 says, The earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy. Teach me your statutes. I think the psalmist here is saying, Because you love me, teach me your statutes.

Because the world is full of your mercy, your kindness, your generosity, your goodness, your grace. And because you love me, I want to know your word. We read the scriptures to see all of the ways that God loves us. We read the word of God to learn and to be reminded of all the ways and all the times that God has shown his grace and his loving kindness. And I can do that in at least two ways. I can go to the scriptures, and I can see what God has done to show his love to me. I can begin, really start earlier than this, but I can begin with a promise to Abraham. And know that that promise to Abraham was for me. And to see everything and the unfolding and the revealing of the plan and the will of God, I can see God coming in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.

His teachings, his suffering, his death on the cross, his resurrection, and his ascension back to the throne, and see that that was for me. But I can also go back and read the stories in the accounts and see how God showed his loving kindness to others. His stories of his interaction with his servants and his followers and how gracious he was. And how forgiving and how patient he was with those people. And I know that that’s a pattern. And that he’s just as gracious and just as loving to me. And that’s how he’ll deal with me. The way he loved Abraham and Moses and David.

And even forgave Paul is the way he’ll love me. And forgive me. You know, we sing the song more about Jesus. More about Jesus would I know. We read the scriptures. We say to God, teach me your statutes so that we might learn the love of God and see it and feel it in its reality in my life. I hope in your word. Teach me your statutes. Lord willing, next Sunday morning we’ll look at the next two passages of Scripture from the 119th Psalm that tell us why. Why we should read and study, why we should be drawn to his word. Teach me your statutes.

Conclusion

In that word we find God’s love for us, we find God Himself revealed, and we find His instructions for our life.

And generally says, Come to me, obey my word, and then specifically says, Here’s what you do. He tells us to love Him. And if we love Him, we’ll keep His commandments. And He says, Come to me in faith and turn your back from sin and come and walk with me. He says, own my name, profess my name before others. And he says, die to sin. And be buried with him in baptism. And to put on Christ, to affect the blood of Christ to wash away your sins. When we cry out to him for help, and we hope in his word, he’ll teach us that that’s what we need to do to come to him. Would you come to him this morning? Are you crying out for help?

Then hope in his word and come to him right now as together we stand and as we sing.