Tried, Tested & True PSALM 119

Psalm 119:140 ESV

Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.

INTRODUCTION:

Lee Strobel was an atheist when his wife came to faith in Jesus in 1979. His years as an editor and journalist at the Chicago Tribune naturally led toward his desire to disprove and dismantle what she claimed to trust.

And so he spent the next two years of his life investigating the faith. He explored the claims of Christianity and came to the conclusion that the evidence was too strong to ignore. In 1981 he gave his life to Christ and 6 years later he became a pastor.

C.S. Lewis was an atheist who found religion more of a chore and a duty than a delight. And as an author and a college professor he explored a variety of spiritual practices which ultimately led him to many dead ends.

But through reading authors like G.K. Chesterton and through deep conversations with his dear friend J.R.R. Tolkien, his curiosity caused him to reluctantly come to Christ. He says of the night he was converted that he was “perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England.”

Lewis went on to pen many books in support of Christianity, most notably, “Mere Christianity.”

A book that I got a hold of when I began seeing things I couldn’t explain all around me. I had set out to disprove the claims of Christianity in many ways, but all of them led me to dead ends. All of them left me with more questions than answers. And God, in His sovereignty used stories like these, used His church and used His Word to take me to my knees reaching the same conclusion that these brothers before me and countless others have come to know. That God’s word is true. It has been tested by millions of people over thousands of years and has never come close to being debunked, and has ending up converting many who have tried.

Psalm 119:59 ESV

When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies;

Psalm 119:27 ESV

Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.

Sermon Title: Tried, Tested & True

Text: Psalm 119:140 – “Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.” Theme: God’s Word stands up to scrutiny, suffering, and time—and is beloved by those who know Him.

Introduction: Stories of Skeptics Turned Believers

Some of the most compelling testimonies don’t come from those who always believed—but from those who tried to disprove the truth, only to be changed by it.

Lee Strobel was a sharp journalist and a firm atheist. When his wife became a Christian, he thought she’d lost her mind—or fallen for a hoax. So he did what any investigative journalist might do: he set out to dismantle Christianity. He poured two years into trying to expose the flaws in the gospel. But instead, the evidence dismantled his doubts. He encountered the living Christ—and surrendered.

C.S. Lewis was an Oxford professor, steeped in logic and literature. He didn’t want the gospel to be true. It interfered with his lifestyle and challenged his intellect. But as he read, reflected, and dialogued with friends like Tolkien, he realized the gospel was the only thing that made sense of reality. He called himself “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” But that reluctant faith became radiant faith—and Lewis would go on to bless millions through books like Mere Christianity.

(Insert your story here) You might share your own story: “Like these men, I once tried to poke holes in the gospel. But every question led me to more wonder. Every challenge I threw at Scripture ended in its quiet confidence. And I found what the psalmist found in Psalm 119:140: ‘Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.’”

Main Text: Psalm 119:140

“Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.”

Let’s draw out three truths from this verse—truths that declare why the Bible is Tried, Tested & True.

1. God’s Word Has Been Tried

“Your promise is well tried…”

The Hebrew word here means something refined, like gold purified in fire. God's promises are not untested theories. They have been tried in every crucible imaginable:

Tested by Skeptics

Atheists have tried to dismantle it. Critics have tried to discredit it. Entire empires tried to bury it. Yet the Bible remains the best-selling, most translated, most influential book in human history.

Voltaire once said the Bible would be obsolete in 100 years—but within a century, the Geneva Bible Society was printing Bibles in his former house.

Tested by Suffering

Job, broken and bereaved, still declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

Corrie ten Boom, a Holocaust survivor, testified that in the deepest darkness, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.”

Tested by Saints

Abraham clung to a promise that made no earthly sense: that God would give him descendants as numerous as the stars.

Jesus Himself, in the wilderness, defeated every temptation with the words: “It is written…”

💬 Illustration:

Think of a rope bridge stretched over a deep canyon. Some might doubt whether it can hold. But after a thousand people walk across—some running, some limping, some crawling—you begin to trust it. That’s what God’s Word is like. It has carried generation after generation across the canyon of sin, sorrow, and death.

2. God’s Word Has Been Tested—And Proven True

“Your promise is well tried…”

Not just once, but again and again. Thoroughly, historically, personally. Not only tried—well tried.

Invites Testing

God doesn't tell us to shut our brains off:

Isaiah 1:18 – “Come, let us reason together…”

1 Thessalonians 5:21 – “Test everything; hold fast what is good.”

Passes Every Test

Philosophical testing – From Plato to Nietzsche to Dawkins, the gospel still stands.

Cultural testing – It speaks truth across time zones, languages, and traditions.

Personal testing – Addicts freed, marriages healed, prisoners redeemed, the proud humbled.

The Fulfillment: Jesus

“All the promises of God find their Yes in Him” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Jesus was tried by temptation, tested by suffering, proven in the resurrection.

Every promise God ever made—salvation, forgiveness, eternal life—was signed and sealed in Jesus Christ.

3. God’s Word Is Treasured by His Servants

“…and your servant loves it.”

This is the natural response of a heart changed by the Word—not just belief, but love.

Why does the psalmist love God’s Word?

Because it is alive.

“The word of God is living and active…” (Hebrews 4:12)

Because it is life-giving.

John 6:68 – “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Because it reveals God Himself.

It is not a manual—it is a love letter.

Not a rulebook, but a rescue story.

When the Holy Spirit awakens the heart, Scripture becomes your joy, not your job. It becomes your treasure, not your task.

Gospel Connection

Every promise in Scripture points to the Living Word—Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the true and better Adam, the final Lamb, the fulfilled Promise, the risen Lord.

When we open Scripture, we meet not just pages, but a Person.

He is the Word made flesh, the One who was tried in our place, tested under wrath, and proven through resurrection.

Application: How Should We Respond?

🟡 1. Don’t Fear Your Doubts—Bring Them to the Word

Question: Are you wrestling with your faith?

Don’t ignore it—investigate. Run to Scripture, not away from it.

Like Strobel and Lewis, you may find the truth is stronger than your skepticism.

🟡 2. Immerse Yourself in God’s Promises

Question: What promise of God do you need to cling to today?

Memorize and meditate on promises like:

Romans 8:28 – All things work for good…

Hebrews 13:5 – I will never leave you…

🟡 3. Treasure the Word Daily

Read it, sing it, pray it, study it—not as duty but delight.

Let it shape your decisions, your desires, your direction.

Conclusion: You Can Trust the Word

The Bible is not a fairytale. It’s not fragile. It is a sword, a light, a rock, a fire.

“Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.”

The promises of God have been tested, and they will carry you too:

In your doubts—they’ll anchor you.

In your pain—they’ll comfort you.

In your death—they’ll raise you.

Let us echo the psalmist today and say:

“Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.”

Supporting Scripture for Meditation:

Psalm 119:59 – “When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.”

Psalm 119:92 – “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”

Reflection Questions:

What trial or doubt have you walked through that tested God’s Word—and what did you discover?

What promise of God do you need to hold on to this week?

How can you rekindle your love for Scripture if it has grown cold?

Who around you is skeptical—and how can you lovingly point them toward the truth?

Let me know if you’d like a PowerPoint, study guide, or small group discussion questions to accompany this message.