The Young Yield Part 2 - Psalm 119:9-11

Intro:

Attention:

How many of you like History?

Here is a photo of the Leaning Tower of Pizza

… Oh, I’m sorry; I meant “Pisa”

Immediate soil issues

Work stopped for nearly a century

Construction continued in 1272

Today, it continues to move downwards

The same can be said about the Christian teenager that doesn’t base his life upon the foundation of Scripture

That’s why, tonight, we are continuing The Young Yield by looking at Psalm 119:9-11, where we will see that Teenagers can live biblically structured lives if they truly allow the Bible to have something to do with it

Need:

Every teen needs to know how to structure their lives

These years are formative; you are becoming a structured individual

You need this, and so does the world; the world needs teens who base their lives off of what Scripture says

So let’s dive in!

Body:

The Big Idea: Teenagers can live biblically structured lives

The Question: The Question: How can teenagers live biblically structured lives?

1. Shield up

Psalm 119:9 (ESV)

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

Explanation:

2nd of 22 stanza’s (Hebrew alphabet): the only one that begins with a question

The question is “deeply personal”

“Young man” = author (unknown)

Every Christian deals with it, but especially young people

Not exclusive to teens, but includes

Pure = clean, undefiled (not filled with junk)

Answers question in three parts

First command: “guard”

Defensive (against what? sin)

We use the Bible as a shield

Akin: “As we guard our lives by the Word of God, the Word of God guards us.”

Our goal is to pick it up; God does the rest

But how do we pick it up?

Its hard to be guarded when we barely even read it

Its not the book cover that guards us; its the words themselves

A teenager with shield can change the world

Just take a look at this: *go over the statistics

Two takeaways: (1) A good chunk of teens never read the bible, (2) the number of teens that read the Bible is still higher than you might expect (indicating capability)

While many teens don’t pick up this shield, many actually do (they are capable)

Just look at this next graph:

Teens realize that they need a shield; and the way to get there is to read the Bible and get closer to God

And why do these teens need a shield? To guard against sin.

Being a young person who flees from sin is tough; there are so many ways in which it is easy for a teenager to sin (some of which we talked about last week)

If you read the Bible regularly, you will be less likely to sin

Verses will pop up in our hearts and minds when we are about to do something stupid

THAT’S how this whole shield thing works.

Illustration:

*Pick up lid*

My role: Christian teenager

Garbage lid = shield = God’s word

Nerf darts: sin

*get student to shoot me without shield, and then add shield to deflect dart*

Because I know what the Bible says and I’ve been reading it regularly, I am able to deflect my sinful inclinations

Application:

Is your life being guarded by the Word of God? Or are you defenseless?

If you do not read your Bible regularly, you are defenseless against sin.

What is it going to take for you to read your Bible more often?

Have you found a day and time that works for you?

Do you have a Bible reading plan? There are plenty of options (show them Foundations; explain that there are a bunch of reading plans on the Bible app as well)

Don’t leave yourself defenseless! Armor up

2. Seek out

Psalm 119:10 (ESV)

With my whole heart I seek you;

let me not wander from your commandments!

Explanation:

The psalmist is seeking God with everything that is within Him.

Whole heart = undivided loyalty

Seek God authentically (top value of Gen z)

Sick of “half-in” = want something “more,” something “real”

Teenager = stage of seeking. Choose to seek God

All people, but unique for teens

Other things that teens seek after: fitting in, dating, etc.

There are lots of things to authentically seek as teens, but for the teen to authentically seek God is a beautiful thing

Tied back to the Bible: “Your commandments”

Akin: “It is hard to wonder from the Lord’s commands when you seek him with your whole heart.”

1 main way = reading Bible

Qualifies how: not just blindly, but with everything, without wavering

Temptation to waver will always exist, but seeking God with all of your integrity sure does help push back against it

Illustration:

Hide and seek?

Oftentimes takes full effort to find some people

Having a Biblical structured life takes full effort to authentically seek after it

Application:

What are you seeking after? God’s Word? Something else?

Have you been wandering?

Use the Bible to seek after God. Make an effort to do it every day

Keep your feet planted on the ground; stay the course

3. Store up

Psalm 119:11 (ESV)

I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

Explanation:

What does it mean to store God’s word in our hearts?

Store: to hide, or to treasure up

Not only shielding, not just seeking, but also storing

AKA, not just in one ear and out the other; this stuff is sticking

It takes at least 18 days to form a new habit, 66 days for automatic

The point: developing a Biblical heart takes time

Teen = perfect age for this (plenty of time)

You could learn any skill; you have so many years left ahead of you

You can use your time to store up God’s word in your heart (time is on your side)

How teens normally use time;

4 hours of leisure time is spent behind a screen

Busy, but it gets worse. You need to develop this habit now before it gets even harder.

The reason = “that I might not sin against you.”

Fighting sin takes time and effort

It gets harder to fight sin the older that you get without doing anything about it

You can get this stuff in order NOW through the grace of Christ

Practical application: Scripture meditation and memorization

Meditate: Blot out everything except Scripture; repeat what it says in your mind over and over

More often than not, = peace, calm, joy

‘Memorization: Use note cards *pull one out for Psalm 119:9-11*

Teen that meditates and memorizes Scripture = huge things for God/holiness

Illustration:

Properly storing things takes time

*Talk about FUGE inventory day*

Allow the stuff that’s inside your heart to be Scripture

Application:

How do you spend your time?

What do you think would happen if we all started spending serious time in God’s Word?

And these things are already happening! No guilt; just press forward

How can you store up God’s word in your heart? What verses would you specifically like to memorize?

*maybe pull up list of memory verses?*

Conclusion

Allow the Bible to have a place in the development of your teenage life

You stand at the crossroads. What is your destination? Does it involve the Bible?

Use your time for something that matters.

*PRAY*