Guarding your life
Graduation Sunday • Sermon • Submitted
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· 51 viewsNecessity to guard our lives with God word
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Psalms 119:9-16
Psalms 119:9-16
For the last 13 years of your life you have been taught in the school basic knowledge to equip you for life
Its like tools in a toolbelt
Some will grow a little more rusty because you wont always apply chemical equations in chemistry or necessarily remember the in and outs of formatting an English paper
But some tools you will use everday
Math- everytime you pay a bill- I promise you will be glad for bath Math skills
History- scripture even tells us
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
English- Clearly we will need to read everyday and without that skill we will find it difficult at times
Science- for our Mr FFA there is some general and chemical science knowledge that will be necessary to help you pursue your career
All these tools have been stuck in the tool belt and typically the most handy tool is the one most often used
We may be doing something outside and I need a hammer- “Let me see that rock”
Is it the perfect tool? No but it will work
In life we can improvise in some areas and get by using the wrong tools that are close by
But in our spiritual lives there is no proper substitute for the Word of God
Many tools will be offered by society but none will work to fix man broken soul and feed his desperate heart
So today I want to encourage you Damian and the rest of the church today to evaluate what tool your using to ease your conscience and soothe your soul
Psalm 119 is where we will pick up our study in God word today
If your familiar with Psalms at all- you will know this is the longest chapter in the book
176 verse- so snacks will be provided for you at the intermission
All jokes aside, we will focus on verse 9-16 today
This Psalm has been declared the Alphabet of Divine Love, Paradise of All Doctrines, Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, School of Truth
“Other Psalms shine as lesser stars, but this burns with the meridian heat of its full brightness”
Why? Because its primary topic is the Word of God
Out of 176 verses- 171 verse deal directly with Gods Word (84, 90, 121, 122, 132)
The psalmist will use 8 different synonyms for the Word of god
Way or Ways- 13 times vv. 1, 3, 5, 14, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 37, 59, 168)
Law- 25 times (vv. 1, 18, 29, 34, 44, 51, 53, 55, 61, 70, 72, 77, 85, 92, 97, 109, 113, 126, 136, 142, 150, 153, 163, 165, 174)
Testimony- 23 times (vv. 2, 14, 22, 24, 31, 36, 46, 59, 79, 88 [sing.], 95, 99,111, 119, 125, 129, 138, 144, 146, 152, 157, 167, 168).
Precepts- 21 times (vv. 4, 15, 27, 40, 45, 56, 63, 69, 78, 87, 93, 94, 100, 104, 110, 128, 134, 141, 159, 168, 173)
Statutes- 21 times (vv. 5, 8, 12, 23, 26, 33, 48, 54, 64, 68, 71, 80, 83, 112, 117, 118, 124, 135, 145, 155, 171).
Commandments- 22 times (vv. 6, 10, 19, 21, 32, 35, 47, 48, 60, 66, 73, 86, 96 [sing.], 98, 115, 127, 131, 143, 151, 166, 172, 176).
judgements/ ordinances - 23 plural and 4 singular- (vv. 7, 13, 20, 30, 39, 43, 52, 62, 75, 84 [sing.], 91, 102, 106, 108, 120, 121 [sing.], 132 [sing.], 137, 149 [sing.], 156, 160, 164, 175)
Word- 20 times in regard to obedience but general terms 39 times
Another scholar said - even the way its written contributes to its main point- the Word of God in the child of God
So with all that being said, lets look at the text
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
Gods Word guards us from sin
Vs 9- Is one of my favorites
-this psalm has an unknown author but it appears he could be an older man looking back and teaching younger men how to protect their life from sin
-Its not by a better paying job- thats how protect your finances
-Its not by a 401k- thats how you protect your retirement
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
-a life is protected and purified by Word of God
Gods word is the refiners fire in the believers heart
Its the surgeon and antiseptic to sin in our lives
If we want to protect our life we will position ourselves daily in front of Gods Word
Lets not forget the second part of the verse- by guarding it with your word
-The access to your heart is protected and guarded by you
You allow what media, music, relationships, conversations you desire to come in
For a young man or any person- the prince of this world has cleverly hidden traps all over the place so that we will take less precaution and lay our sword done
Damian- you have had choices to make and more are coming
As a believer, you must choose to guard your heart with God Word because a roaring lion is out for blood
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
the Psalmist continues- how to be successful in protecting our heart with God Word?
-Seek God intentionally
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Its not by chance the farmers field is planted but by commitment to do the work
Secondly, by pleading to God for help for wandering
One of the most overlooked parts of the Lords prayer is
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
We like the term “Its better to ask forgiveness than permission” but thats not accurate and that doesnt work with God
This is where many “believers” sit - wandering
High school and college is an interesting point in life of the church member because this is the group that quickly disappears
We can debate numerous reasons but one firmly sits in the fact that with adulthood comes more freedom and for many there are other things more important and more sin to fall into
This persist in many in the church- but when something happens we want the church to pray
Its easy to wander isnt it- Our mind, our eyes, our actions, our words- its not hard
Its harder to remain steadfast- Its harder to persevere- it requires work
“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
Job said I know the dangers that are in front of me, I’ll make a firm covenant to protect myself from sin
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Which leads to next key way we protect our lives from sin
I had a professor say, if tomorrow access to the Bible was gone, would you know it well enough to teach the truth?
I think we can dilute it even further- How much of God word would we be left with if we didnt have a bible anymore?
This matter because apparently we have placed the security of soul in its authority, right?
We can memorize everything else, why not God’s word?
IF you memorized one verse a month- you would have 12 new tools to fight sin with
One a week, 52 verses- then by all means you always have some Good News of Jesus to share with someone- and it will matter because it whats you are treasuring in your heart
These verse are magical nor do they work because you have them in the toolbox
They must be pulled out and used
2. Desire to learn God word
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
God is holy- and we know nothing about holiness
Everywhere we look we see a broken world
We dont even have to look beyond ourselves as many here may even have had a sinful thought fly in their mind literally out of nowhere
Thankfully, God in all of his holiness has spoken
He has done so in two ways- Generally through creation and conscience and Divinely through His word and Jesus
The great joy of every believer is that when we open Gods word the HS is the one who helps us understand
Some truth are harder and require more digging and repenting but John 14-16 reminds us that Jesus sent us the HS to teach us all
We too can stand with David and say Your Holy, I dont know anything about, please teach me your Word- and by the grace of God- the HS will do so
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
Whats interesting about learning something new- you like to share it
David says I will share what you are teaching me from your word
He doesnt say “God spoke to me and said” “I got a word from God”but he say I will share the Word of God
It will be what I declare, why? its the only absolute truth we have
Media cant be absolutely trusted, Weather cant be absolutely trusted, Health cant be absolutely trusted
Only Gods word is truth- Damian, church , remember this
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Not just some truths the psalmist will declare- but all of them
We don’t get the choice to choose what is culturally relevant for the times because Gods word is absolute truth in its entirety and transcends cultural boundaries as it speaks to the hearts of man
We tendency to run from the truth because
English Standard Version Chapter 3
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Damian the danger we have is looking into the God word seeing our sin and saying it no big deal
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
3. Gods word becomes our treasure
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
the Psalmist take as much joy in Gods word than all his posessions
Why? Because he knows where life comes from
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
Meditate- involves more than a 2 minutes on a bible app
Its involves thinking on Gods word throughout the day- Jesus method was to get alone and spend this time in prayer- 35 times Jesus is recorded to go pray in Luke
Fix- my eyes on his ways
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
there is no other means of hope than Jesus
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
Unbeliever this where I was and you still sit
But the great news is Jesus came as the light in the darkness and paid the debt of sin you and I should pay
So that you no longer have to walk in darkness but can walk in his ways
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
For the believer Gods word isnt a burden but a blessing
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Its shows us who God is and his plan for redemption of anyone who will repent and believe
Lastly, Damian, church, dont forget Gods word
Its Gods word we run to when world falls apart not societal insights
Its God word we run to when everything is seemingly going right
I mention this because in both extremes its easy to forget Gods word.
How does a young man keep his way pure? by guarding it according to your Word