Sermon Tone Analysis

We are in our fourth section of Psalm 119 labeled Daleth.

In this section we see we ought to be ...Cleaving To God’s Word - Psalm 119:25-32

Often times we find ourselves in troubling circumstances, and even though we have faith in God, we sometimes are affected by these circumstances.

We try to remain joyful in the midst of the trials, and we may even be able to disguise our hopelessness with a smile.

But if we are honest with ourselves and with the Lord, we admit that we are drowning in despair.

This is the situation that our Psalmist seems to be in.

He expressed the depth of his despair with two heartbreaking statements:

My soul cleaves unto the dust.

vs 25

My soul melts form heaviness v. 28

But the Psalmist declares his faith in God’s Word and he cries out to the Lord for help.

First we see that...

I.

The Word Gives Me Invigoration

v. 25

The defeated psalmist asked God to quicken or revive him by his life-giving Word.

He says that his soul cleaveth (clinging to) dust (death).

Have you gone through a dry season in your faith?

Have you gone through a season where you do not feel you are hearing from God?

The psalmist asks God to quicken (make alive again) him according to thy Word.

God’s Word is invigorating.

If we come to His Word in prayer, asking to quicken our hearts, He will answer through His Word.

If we will be faithful to His Word, even when we don’t feel like it, God will give us what we need.

The Devil will make sure that you are too busy for God’s Word!

You have to make it a priority.

I read about a pastor who was talking about his mother-in-law.

He said, “My mother-in-law hates mangoes.

She's hated them for many years.

And with good reason.

When she was a little girl, she was brought up on a dairy farm.

And since it made good sense to drink the milk they produced rather than buying it from the shop, they kept a house cow in a shed next to the house and it provided milk for the family.

Unfortunately, the property next door had a mango tree which hung over the fence, and mangoes dropped on the property.

The cow loved to eat the mangoes, and the result, believe it or not, was mango-flavored milk - all the time.

So to this day, she can't stand mangoes.

And she was about 12 years old before she discovered that all milk wasn't mango flavored.

Nobody knows better than that cow that what you eat flavors what you produce.

This also applies to spiritual food - God's Word.”

God’s Word Invigorates us.

Throughout Psalm 119 this idea of God’s Word quickening us is used at least eight times.

Psalm 119:37, 40, 88, 93, 107, 149, 156, 159

I have always heard it said, “If the Word of God says something once you better pay attention; if it says it twice, you really better pay attention!”

II.

The Word Gives Me Instruction

v. 26

This verse depicts a healthy walk with God.

The Psalmist told God of his ways (His path, his life) and God taught him His statutes (regulations, laws).

We need both sides of communication to have a healthy walk with God.

We need to express our hearts to God, and allow Him to show us the right path through His Word.

C.S. Lewis said, “The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.

And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.”

We do this through a healthy walk with God.

Allow God’s Word to instruct you in His ways.

III.

The Word Gives Me Illumination

v. 27

One of the great privileges of having God’s Word is that God will illuminate what we read.

We, who are saved, have the Holy Spirit in us.

He shines light on Scripture and shows us what we need, and applies it to our need.

Here the psalmist asks God to make him understand the way of thy precepts.

Remember Precepts means instructions.

The psalmist promises that if God will just help him to see and understand the precepts of God, that he will talk about it with others.

We need to find ways to teach what we have been taught.

This is the natural order of growth.

IV.

The Word Gives Me Intensity

v. 28

Looking for consistency here, I use the word intensity - using the meaning of strength.

soul melteth - this is a figurative way to say they are weeping in grief.

in fact the word heaviness means grief.

Are you grieving today?

The Psalmist gained strength through God’s Word.

I saw a warning label that ought to be placed on the Bible:

Warning: Bible study can be habit-forming.

Putting the principles into practice can cause loss of anxiety, decreased appetite for lying, cheating, stealing, hating and "symptoms" of growing sensations of love, peace, joy, and compassion.

Don Whitney in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life said, “If reading the Bible can be compared to cruising the width of a clear, sparkling lake in a motorboat, studying the Bible is like slowly crossing that same lake in a glass-bottomed boat.

The motorboat crossing provides an overview of the lake and swift, passing view of its depths.

The glass-bottomed boat of study, however, takes you beneath the surface of Scripture for an unhurried look of clarity and detail that normally missed by those who simply read the text.

As author Jerry Bridges put it, "Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth."

I am grateful that God is interested in strengthening us!

He does this through His Word as is stated here.

But he also does it through Christ himself, Phil 4.13

He also strengthens us through His Spirit, Ephesians 3:16

V.

The Word Gives Me Integrity

vs. 29,30

What a joy it is that God’s Word can help us be our better self!

We see four marvelous ways that God’s Word gives us integrity:

A. It Delivers Us

v. 29a

“Remove from me the way of lying”

The Word of God has the power to remove us from the bondage of sin.

Here it specifically focuses on lying.

God’s Word is truth, and in it is found the power to deliver us from lying.

Famous Lies

- The check is in the mail.

- I'll start my diet tomorrow.

- We service what we sell.

- Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.

- Money cheerfully refunded.

- One size fits all.