His Word in my Heart
Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 6
So. Rubber-meets-the-road, real-life, practical reality. We believe the Bible is true. We trust its claims and understand it to be God’s message to believers. But does my daily practice support this belief?
I believe it to be vital to my Christian life and yet I have not read it since last Sunday. I believe it holds the answers to all the issues of life and I did not consult it when life took an unexpected turn. I believe it is a mighty weapon against evil and yet I spend most of my time trying to ward off sin in my own strength.
Do you see the disparity? Why don’t we desire God’s Word more? A big part of it, is that our enemy strives for us to keep our Bibles closed. So how do we change this lack of desire to read the Bible?
Think on His Word at all times Psalm 1:1-3
Psalm 1 opens with a great comparison: Blessed is the man who doesn’t 1…, 2…, 3 and does 1… and 2. So the blessedness of the man is found in verse 2 and the author chooses to investigate the negative first. I think this is done to get the reader to consider what normally captures his attention first: the ungodly, the sinners and the scoffers. This is life. These are the people we meet everywhere. And this is the mindset that we inherit and is at the source of our problem.
The comparison with verse 2 introduces a descriptive noun that teaches us a bit more about verse 1. The writer is drawing a comparison between two desires. Two likes. Two things that capture our attention: the ungodly, the sinner and the scoffer OR the law of the Lord. You can’t delight in both. We are enraptured by verse 1, because it fascinates us, it delights us.
Verse 1 also delineates the downward growth: walk, stand, sit. Progressively involved. This comparison works for verse 2 as well… our delight will shift from verse 1 to verse 2 by progressively becoming more involved with Scripture from walking, to standing and sitting down for it.
Let’s take some time for definitions:
the ungodly live independent from God. We may never say that we live independent from God, but does our life back up that claim? Is our life greatly influenced by people who are living independently from God?
The sinners make rebellious choices against God. Their thoughts and intentions are on all that God calls evil. Rather than submit to a law, they live their lives they way they want to - free from law and constraint. Don’t tell me what to do.
The scoffers have become verbally abusive. Nothing is holy or off-limits and everything is tainted by ungodliness and sin.
Verse two stands as the counter-balance. Delighting in God’s law and meditating on it day and night. This is a constant occurrence: there is no untimely meditation. You can and should be doing this at any time of day. And here is the rub: what if I don’t delight in God’s Word. It’s harsh to say and many of us may not admit it out loud, but what if reading the Bible is difficult and unappealing? Well, let me tell you that everyone here has felt that in their lives at some point. We believe the Bible is true, but to sit down and read it is the last thing we want to do. That is an indication you have spent much time walking, standing and maybe even sitting with worldly influences and you desperately need the influence of Scripture to change that desire.
