It doesn't help me today.

Unhelpful

You remember when your teachers use to tell you, “You need to learn math without a calculator because you aren’t always going to have one in your pocket.”?

What about, “Don’t sit too close to the TV, it will hurt your eyes!” How many of us watch our phones 75% of the time.

Remember when we were told “Never get into a car with a stranger!” Now Uber and Lyft are standards, and we ride with strangers all the time.

I am sure you have heard some advice that was outdated and unhelpful.

We might not say it out loud, but functionally, based on the way we live, we tend to believe the same about the bible.

Sure, we might consider the bible important, even essential, but do we really believe it is helpful for our every day lives?

We have been confronting excuses for why we don’t read the bible as we begin this New Year and seek to get In the Word in 2026 together as a church family.

Week 1 we confronted the excuse “The Bible makes me uncomfortable”, pointing to the authority of the bible to confront, convict, and call us to obedience.

Last week we confronted the excuse “I just don’t understand the Bible when I read it.” Showing that the bible is Spiritually understood and that God has given us His Spirit and the Church to help us understand what He says through His Word.

Today we are going to confront the excuse that “the Bible doesn’t help me today.”

We often think of the bible much like we do a the Yellow Pages.

Why take the time to use the Yellow Pages when we can just look it up on Google.

We believe the Bible to be obsolete, outdates, or just unhelpful for the questions, advice, or problems we need help with.

It might be helpful for “religious” stuff, but it doesn’t help us with the day to day stuff.

So we put it on the shelf, much like the Yellow Pages and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

But Psalm 19 pushed back on this assumption.

Showing us that God’s Word is not like any other book ever written.

This is no ordinary book...

Psalm 19:7–11 CSB

7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.

Psalm 19:7–11 CSB

9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. 10 They are more desirable than gold— than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. 11 In addition, your servant is warned by them, and in keeping them there is an abundant reward.

Psalm 19 is all about God making Himself known.

First, how He makes Himself known in creation

And then, starting in verse 7, how He makes Himself known mostly clearly in His Word to us...

That is what is so special about the Bible.

God spoke through the prophets in the OT, revealing His nature, His promises, His power, His purposes, and His precepts to us, and they recorded it in what we now hold in our hands.

And, God used men like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul, among others, to record His message to His church in the NT.

This is more than just a book… and it does more than just inform us about religious duties, theological ideas, or fun stories to tell kids to teach them good manners.

David says in verse 10

Psalm 19:10 CSB

10 They are more desirable than gold— than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.

He’s not just saying, “The Bible is good for you,” like spiritual medicine you choke down because you’re supposed to.

He’s saying, “If you really knew what this Word is and what it does, you’d want it. You’d desire it more than money. You’d find it sweeter than the sweetest thing you can imagine.”

Gold is valuable. Honey taste good and satisfies our hunger.

David is saying: God’s Word is both.

And David gives us 6 ways God’s Word works

6 Ways the Word of God is “living and active” and “sharper than a two-edged sword”.

6 nouns, 6 adjectives, and 6 verbs...

6 Ways the Word Works

1) It REVIVES us.

The word “law” in verse 7 is the Hebrew word “Torah” which means “God’s revealed will”.

It isn’t necessarily talking about the commandments of God, but what God has revealed to us about His mind and His character.

And all that God has shown us about Himself is “perfect”, complete, without out blemish or error.

And it is in the knowing of God’s mind and God’s character that we are made alive.

Romans 10:17 CSB

17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

God perfectly reveals Himself through His Word to SAVE us. 

“Renewing one’s life" means that God's Word breaths life into our dead hearts. 

It saves us, transforms us, and makes us new.

The primary aim of digging into the Bible is not to achieve increased biblical understanding along with a few practical ideas for applying it to life.

Rather, that in it we will encounter God himself in a life-changing way.

  If we are honest, we want the Bible to function like a spiritual search engine: type in the problem, get a specific solution.

The problem is that Scripture’s main work in our lives is deeper than that,

God uses His Word to revive us, renew us, to save us, and transform us.

You come to the Word exhausted, numb, spiritually flat.

You may not leave with a detailed plan for your future, but God uses His Word to breathe life back into you, to turn you back from a path leads to destruction.

2) It TEACHES us.

The next noun David uses to describe the Word is “testimony”, which we would assume means “story”.

And you would be right.

‘Testimony’ is God’s witness about Himself—who He is, what He has done, what is true.

This “testimony” is “trustworthy” which means it is reliable, verifiable, and true.

And in it is where true wisdom is found.

Who do you go to when you are struggling to make a complicated decision?

Who do you ask for advice when you are trying to know what is the right way to handle a parenting issue, a marriage issue, or a conflict with someone at work?

Where do you go when you are anxious about the future, frustrated about something out of your control, or confused about some complex problem you are facing?

There might not be a chapter and verse directly answering our issues,

But in God’s Word is all the wisdom and understanding we need be prepared to navigate through the complexities and challenges of life.

It isn’t going to tell you which job to take or school to attend, but it will guide you to make the decision that avoids making money or success a false and unsatisfying idol.

It might not tell you how to fix your marriage in 3 step, but it will teach you what love is, how to be a Godly husband or wife, when it is hard; and it will remind us of the power of prayer.

God’s Word makes us wise.

3) It SATISFIES us.

The word “precepts” does mean rule, and we hate rules don’t we?

We assume rules are meant to squash our fun, to keep us from something that we would likely enjoy.

But we need to keep on reading.

The “precepts” of the Lord are “right” meaning they are true, accurate, and never wrong.

But here is the kicker: David says these “right” “rules” make our hearts GLAD.

That pushes against our assumption doesn’t it?

God’s Word, in how it directs us and commands us, is intended to produce in us gladness and joy.

They aren’t old and out-of-date ways to control us and stifle our fun.

God’s rules are satisfying to our hearts.

God’s Word doesn’t keep us from the things we think will satisfy us.

His Word leads us to the fountain of joy, where true satisfaction can be found.

Think again about verse 10:

Scripture is not old, stale bread you force yourself to eat,

or a dry, tasteless salad you suffer through while dreaming of a steak dinner.

The Word is the real meal.

The more you sit under it, the more you discover that the very things you thought would satisfy you—more money, more control, more comfort—can’t touch the sweetness of actually hearing from the living God, walking in His ways, and tasting His presence.

4) It GUIDES us.

“Commandments” doesn’t require much explanation.

But David says of God’s commandments that they are “radiant” meaning they are clear, bright and unblemished.

Which is a really great description for a source of light.

God’s radiant commands are a light to our eyes.

In David’s much longer Psalm on the Word of God, Psalm 119 he says: God's Word is a “lamp for my feet” (Ps 119:105). 

It shines light so that we can walk in light and not stumble in the darkness. 

My dad's story of walking into a rake 3 times.

When we don't have the Word of God in our lives, we are bound to get smacked in the face by the things we can't see.

5) It STEADIES us.

The next noun is an odd one.

“The fear of the Lord” is a description of the effect of the law of God has on the life of the believer.

Reading God’s Word shows us who God is and that ought to purpose in us a reverent fear/respect for Him.

And this fear is “purifying”.

As we engage with God’s Word:

God’s character becomes big and real, not theoretical.

God’s warnings against sin become serious and scary, and at the same time, we begin to see His warnings as loving invitations and not harsh judgements.

And God’s promises feel more solid and help us to see beyond our emotions or circumstances.

You don’t need quick fix; you need a holy, growing fear of the Lord that will still steady you through the storms, trials, and temptations of life.

6) It WARNS and REWARDS us.

The last description of the Bible’s Work starts in verse 9, but ends in verse 11.

The “ordinances” or “rules” of the Lord are reliable, meaning they are true and without error.

That means when God’s Word says something is sin, it is not repressive—it is reality.

When it says something is good, it is truly good, whether or not you like it or not.

So after his brief aside, David comes back to the “rules” of God, saying both that the rules “warn” us and “reward” us.

Because God’s judgments are right, they function like warning signs posted on the road.

They warn:

Against paths that look safe and satisfying, but lead to chaos and mess.

Against compromises that feel small but have far more destructive consequences than we might see.

Against idols that promise much more than they will ever provide.

The warnings are not harsh or nitpicky; they are gracious gifts from a loving father who wants us to find joy in Him.

And that is the reward!

Obedience isn’t drudgery, it is the path to soul-satisfying joy, unshakable peace, and extraordinary hope.

Closing

Opening your Bible day after day may not always feel ‘helpful’ in the moment.

The excuse says: “The Bible won’t help me today, so why bother?”

The answer is: “Because day after day, this living Word gives you everything you need to grow into a mature, Spirit-led disciple of Jesus. That is far better than one quick answer—it is a whole new life.

The Word of God is steadily doing the work of:

Reviving your soul.

Making you wise.

Gladdening your heart.

Enlightening your eyes.

Deepening a glorious fear of the Lord.

Anchoring you in God’s truth

Warning and rewarding you.

That’s how God prepares us to face the every day decisions, struggles, trials, and temptations in life—not by dropping an answer key from heaven, but by forming and reforming us into mature, Spirit-led disciples of Jesus.