973. Loving God by Loving His Word

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Our program preacher sermons from travel services at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Every day students are blessed by the preaching and teaching of the Bible from the University Chapel platform were continuing a study series called loving God. These messages were preached in a special seminary chapel for students preparing for ministry to the speaker is Dr. Brian hand, a seminary professor at Bob Jones University. The title of his message is loving God by loving his word from Psalm 119 61 through 68 topic is loving God by loving his word with the arrival of the fall season.

Of course, football season is now well in play and all out of the woodwork come all the Fabians, you can see them all around town with the flags flying out the car windows and every weekend people are making journeys out of town or either down toward Columbia worked over toward Anderson and I they look a little unusual. You know that the faces orange or black or maroon other colors they have bumper stickers all over the car you can see that everything is loaded up for a big day. Their enthusiasm and passion is unmistakable. And so it is true of all that we are enthusiastic or passionate about our love is hard to hide. Isn't it 11 persons you don't hide it is at outward is very open. It's very public and so it is with the psalmist we see the passion of the Psalm writer revealed in verses 161 that 168 which give us a picture of his ardent devotion and calls us to a disposition that is similar. So three together. Psalm 119, beginning with verse 161 princes have persecuted me without a cause but my heart standing in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word is one that find it great spoil.

I hate in a poor lying but dialogue do I love seven times a day. Do I praise you because of thy righteous judgments. Great peace have those which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Lord, I have hope for thy salvation and done my commandments. My soul has Thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly. I have Thy precepts and I testimonies for all my ways are before the two months ago I found a smallish box in her household.

Normally a box like that because we have several children who enjoy collecting little boxes I get a quick looking over before I throw it away. This one was different. Inside it was a puzzle. Very special puzzle.

This was a puzzle that I sent to a girlfriend 17 years ago in 25 piece sections which she was away for me all summer long at a camp in Wisconsin and I was down here in South Carolina, a gloomy summer, but is not so much the importance of what was on the front side of the puzzle is what was on the back of the puzzle. She got it in little increments and had to put together 25 pieces at a time in which I wrote poems and notes and letters and lots of other little details for this puzzle.

And yeah, the center one there at the heart I proposed without one says will you marry me down the little bottom piece so that was inside the ring. Okay, very exciting summer but you know the interesting thing that I faced as far as the discovery recently of this puzzle once again is while the puzzle back then was a testimony of my love for her. What is it today in its current state.

The fact that she has kept the puzzle that she has preserved the puzzle that she has treasured the puzzle not for what's on the front what's on the back is now a testimony of her love for me.

The fact that she values my words so much that she wants to read and reread and savor them and reflect back on the days we were dating and yes it is, my wife 17 years ago haven't Any artifactual girlfriends previous. Unlike my words that are incomplete and sometimes incoherent reflections of my own attitudes my dispositions my thoughts. God's word is a complete lead an accurate description of his own thinking that he doesn't tell us everything that is thinking that everything that he does tell us is a clear and precise reflection of what he is and thinks it is so close in fact to his very being that this book can be called a living word. Unlike any other book in human existence. This one is alive and powerful. Why because it's a very extension of God's own intent and purposes, is will a reflection of his person, and so the psalmist calls us to consider the thing that since we demonstrate love for God by loving his word, that is that one of the ways that we love God and prove that we love him, is by loving his word. We need to learn to love the Scriptures to appreciate them as God intends for us to appreciate them. What does love for the written word look like even without the text developing this for us. I think we can guess, if you love the book what you do with it throat under the house right now. If you love a book it's usually on that the bedstead see you can read a few words at night, or maybe a select location on your shelf so that you're reminded even looking at it. Some of the guys I've met in class are you all about Lord of the readings or something, not the guy the girls about Jane Austen. My wife loves all the Jane Austen type things and so we have these beautiful gilded copies there set ride out there publicly and things that she would read and reread and reuse. And so it is as far as the Scriptures are concerned, we can guess some of the things that God is teaching us even before looking at his word, or the things that would indicate our love and that's exactly what we find here in this passage because the passage begins by showing us you love the Scriptures by esteeming them properly. That makes sense. We don't normally love that we don't esteem. If you really have no esteem for somebody it's very difficult to love that person and if you don't esteem. God's word is no possibility of loving it.

You love the Scriptures by esteeming them properly and that esteem is seen first in verse 161 by fearing it more than you fear men seems like an interesting juxtaposition to us princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart standard in all of my word. How in the world of those go together.

They seem totally unrelated ideas or topics, but I think what we have here is a pretty clear indication that the princes who are directing their persecution or the hostility against the psalmist are doing so and he's innocent. He is guiltless he is doing what is right.

He's doing what he supposed to be doing.

Hence he says they're doing it without a cause they don't have a good reason to exert this kind of coercive pressure against me, and yet here they are doing it. We understand that when a government rights laws it's trying to coerce behavior. So we have places like Alaska in Maine with a two dollar per pack tax on cigarettes. What are they trying to do get people to stop smoking and when the princes are exerting pressure against the people of God, trying to box them in him them in and direct our affections and even our conduct and behavior of life. When we do the week do you yield to that will according to the Psalm is not if it's contrary to God's word, and here's the contrast then the princes maybe ordering you to do one thing, but I rather instead I'm more impressed by your word.

I'm impressed by the power of your word impressed by his Majesty. I esteem. Your words, the highest Court of Appeal. The end statement of truth, and therefore I will abide by your words rather than yield to the bullies of humanity. The bullies of human culture. Even the bullies within my own heart, that are trying to coerce me to do evil if we are in all of the word of God in spirit like we should showing esteem for it yielding to it. We are put in awe of God's our love is shown by an esteem for God's word and that esteem, as evidenced by fearing it more than we fear men.

The esteem is also exhibited by treasuring it as we would treasure wealth verse 162. I rejoice at thy word is one that find it great spoil about nine-year-old who has delusions of finding gold in our Creek. Actually, our Creek is unknown. Gold bearing Creek in the upstate. But it's all placer gold, which is the minute almost infinitely tiny particles. That's filter downstream and you actually get it once it runs into a lake, rather than in the creek, but he is determined to find gold and eat untold numbers of rocks come out of the creek and their chips and powder line all over and one of our pole barns as he smashes it all apart sure that he's going to find a treasure. By the way, if he did it.

I'm sure he probably morosely come up to the house.

Dad found gold. Sorry.

Now of course not esteem him for a treasure. We would love to find a treasure. Most of us have dreamed of finding a treasure if we could just go out in the field somewhere and just be strolling along like a person was number of years ago in North Carolina and found one of the largest sapphires in the world just nonchalantly alerted always is amazing is incredible.

You have that attitude toward Scripture. I rejoice at thy word is one that find it great spoil is one that found a treasure. He's got to tell everybody else about it. He effervescence or boils over bubbles over with the enthusiasm and excitement for it.

And since this is the very revelation of God's thoughts in his character. What you're really bubbling over about is your God if you are excited about the Scriptures are ultimately excited about God himself, and therefore your steam for the word of God is an esteem for him and love of him. I have three files of fabulous artwork at home. One is labeled grace.

When is labeled Daniel one is labeled Elizabeth, you probably wouldn't find anything particular meritorious in the contents of those files, but I do. Why because a relationship transforms everything relationship transforms every I pull out these files and look through them periodically and so much fun. I think here's Elizabeth when she was three.

Look at this fun artwork and four and five and six and now I have a teenager as well and look at what she is producing and little pamphlets from the orchestra concert said she has been in in the the honors that she has wanted something that pleases me to do reflect on their writing. Reflect on their creativity and were dealing with children whose offerings are very imperfect. How much more out. We then to reflect on the Scriptures in esteem and value them because of relationship. There is nothing of intrinsic value in those three files that I hold the word of God is intrinsically supremely valuable and yet we won't recognize that value unless we love God and some of your already going with is low. The circularity then your argument is you're saying we won't love the word of God unless we love God, but I thought your message was love God by loving the word. The word is bound up with the very person of God you cannot love one without the other. So the passage is first shown is the esteem that we ought to have for God's word. The second we love the Scriptures by finding God in his word. What do we do with those letters that we received in those wonderful days in which we were dating or in which which we are engaged or what you do, even if it's the first letter you received.

If it's from a guy that you're kind of like new one have anything to do with him. It'll take time reading it. You just gingerly tear it up and thrown in a trashcan. But what if it's a guy you like already. What color did he use did he mean something by the color that he chose housing structure. The sentences, what is he really saying and you turn the letter over and over and over again in your mind to see what it reveals about the person that you like true, of course, we deal and we love the Scriptures by finding God in them.

To begin with, we imitate the truthfulness of God is revealed in his word. Psalm 161 19, 163. I hate and abhor when that was translated into Greek.

It uses a word now that we say a bomb and eight.

I absolutely dominate lying, but dialogue do I love so there's a contrast between hate and love.

And then there's a contrast next between lying and I law.

So what is he saying about the law in that statement.

The law is true.

The law is perfectly accurate. God's testimonies are absolutely truthful, because our God is a God of truth unlike any other book which, while researchers may have done their best.

And while sincere men may have written them. They are still flawed.

This book is utterly without error.

This is a word of truth and we are imitating the truthfulness of God as if revealed in his word, we study the word to learn truth and in learning the truth were learning about God himself.

We also praise the righteousness of God is revealed in his word. Verse 164, seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. Now when we become informed of these righteous judgments. Do you see them around us in the world. Most of the time that we look outward at natural revelation. We don't see a lot of righteousness do we see lightning striking only the ungodly and we see calamity, only catching up and sweeping away the wicked when the flooding came in South Carolina did it elect carefully only the worst criminals within Columbia and Charleston and only damage their property and as our attitudes with reference to the natural world around us is doesn't seem to be a lot of justice we have to look inside Scripture in order to understand that God is a God of justice that his justice does not sleep forever. He is slow, not because he is slack.

He is slow because he is merciful.

He slow because he's absolutely in control. His justice is not passed over his justice is waiting the great day of his wrath.

And we learned that offer Scripture. So we actually come to reflect on God in his character by learning what the Scriptures themselves say what would happen if a guy was telling a girl how much he loved her, but then he started qualifying that love you.

I don't like the way you laugh and I I don't like your appearance. I especially don't like your hobbies and your parents and your cooking and I utterly abhor your personality, but I really do love you. You persuaded is and will think so. Why, because you have to love a person as a person is as a person is genuinely as a person is revealed that there are so many people who come to the word of God to see God revealed in the Scriptures, and who don't like what they find who will still claim that they love God but the God that they love is one of their own inventions hear phrases like they love Jesus but not the church impossible. If you love Jesus you love the ones for whom he died. He may not like all that they do. But you have to love the church or what about a will.

I love the God of the New Testament, but not that vindictive, mean-spirited God of the old if you don't love God is he's revealed in his word. You don't love him at all and that's hard for us to deal with the times. Know whether you are as I am at sometimes a wrestling man devotions. I run across a really hard saying and I'm struggling with it. Because of this, the spirit, the contentiousness of my own heart and disclaim.

I don't like what this passage is doing and saying. But as we continue studying.

If we really love God, we grapple with it and come to the point that the reason it is so difficult and that places frequently did his extended mercy for sometimes decades or centuries or even millennia, to a group of people so that when his judgment finally breaks the measure of justice is full and it seems to us a little bit extreme.

In some instances, but if we love God as he is revealed in his word.

We are really loving him, not our imaginations were not following after a fairytale were not following after God that we have identified that we have painted that we control rather we love God and worship him as he is, and we gain the peace of God is for as it's revealed in his word as well. Great peace have they which love I law, and nothing shall offend them is the process of studying God's Word gives us the very peace of God, and it creates in us a love for God. We love the Scriptures by finding God in his own character. That peace is not something that we get apart from knowing God is your heart ever trouble you look at the world circumstances that surround you, whether they be political or economic or social or cultural. There's just too many currents too many natural disasters. Too many perils.

One of the young people who was killed in Columbia when the first reported was a former student of my wife here at the middle school life is very uncertain. Do we really have peace. Not if you're reliant on your own emotions for that piece. The Scriptures tell us no you don't get that piece external to the word you get that piece from the word and is a piece that is a possession great peace have those they have it. It's it is something that they actually hold onto not just something that they feel subjectively at some moments and nodded. Others is a possession of.

There's an ultimate tranquility of soul, because we ultimately are guaranteed eternal life in our Redeemer. Well if he is truly a steam God's word and have seen God revealed in it as we ought our love is continuing to grow in this final section of the Scripture because we love God's word by obeying it. Someone 67, which is actually the middle verse of that section says, and yet is the key. If the central point my soul half capped by testimonies and I love them exceedingly those display things side-by-side. My soul keeps and I love that immediately brings to mind a number of New Testament passages if you love me, keep my commandments. Jesus said that over and over and over again verse 167 is a linchpin here. That is how clearly connects love and obedience in all three verses in the section is an active term for obedience verse 166 of the psalmist doing God's commandments.

167 168 have him keeping and or guarding, but uses the same Hebrew term.

There, God's testimonies and this is vitally important for us. Love and obedience are never juxtaposed in Scripture as antitheses.

It's not all you you guys are the ones you're trying to keep God's word were the ones who love God and other people know you love God by keeping his commandments. No person can keep God's commandments out of just a raw sense of duty out of just servile fear, but nobody truly loves God, who is not keeping his commandments. You can keep the commandments. Without love, but you don't love without keeping the commandments I routinely use this with my children as well because it preaches so well.

We talk and what the resisting the pushing back as all of us push back against truth and rebellion of our hearts in the pushing back just because there sinners as I am as well, but in the middle of pushing back I say you know what really kills what it comes down to if you love me, obeying me that really somehow breaks through. Even as young as they are so many times because yes I can compel them as their father. Yes, they need to be doing it out of duty, but motivated by love.

If they really have their hearts overflowing with love in that moment, they have to obey the can do otherwise.

Love is an incredibly compelling force and so we have here in this passage we are obeying in the hope of God's salvation is verse 166 shows us obeying in the hope of thy salvation, Lord, I have hope for thy salvation and done by commandments in the process of studying the word of God in the process of learning the word of God. What do we learn one of the triggers that we learn as we have this great salvation that out there.

One day a great reward. In other words, all of our obedience is not futile. It's not fruitless is not pointless. We obey in the hope of God's salvation and we obey in the confidence of God's assessment of our lives as well. I have kept thy precepts and I testimonies for all my ways are before the idea before everything that I am a spread out in front of the Lord, you know who I am. You know me intimately. You know me personally, I can't hide anything from you again. Where do we get that information. How did we come to know that we can't hide from God. We got it from his word and the more we love the word of God, the more we understand God, the more we understand God, the more we understand what is promised us in the future, and the more we understand that he's overseeing this right now in our love through the Scriptures for our God compels her behavior. We know that we are evaluated him both now and in the future. So obedience is a direct corollary of loving God and a six-year-old rarely comes home with Earth's earth shattering news from school, a first grader doesn't have that much to report, that is of supreme interest, but when Elizabeth comes home from school and wants to tell me what she and her friends dead. Suzanne and I were on the playground today and we in the gender testicular temperature little bubbly redheaded effervescent trivialities and of course I respond is any good father should look until you have something worth saying. I don't want to hear it course not. Again, you know very well the fact that I love her means. I love her words and how do I demonstrate that I love her by loving her words so that when she tugs on my sleeve is his daddy. Daddy yes sir times I have to say you need to wait for just a minute. I have to complete this and I'm with you, but then you get to her and you get down on her level and you look her in her lie.

I say I'm very much concerned with your words tell me what you have to say if we love God we will show it to loving his word and we love that word by esteeming it as we ought, by lifting it above the true trivialities of life bite yes were tired in the morning we steam it more than we esteem 15 extra minutes of sleep if if need be.

Maybe you have your devotions late in the evening, but I don't feel like reading Scripture when I get up in the morning.

A lot of the time, but in the process of reading the word of God it the love is rekindled in the in the reading and in the process of reading. I come to admire my God, and esteem him as I ought, and likewise and not just learning to esteem him but I'm learning to obey him.

If you love me, keep my commandments. So, since we demonstrate love for God by loving his word.

You must learn to love the Scriptures. What is that look like practically speaking, practically speaking with already addressed some esteem obedience and attention, giving devotion giving time to what you really honor father grateful for the testimony before us today thankful that your word is pure.

Your word is perfect.

May we exhibit genuine love for you by taking time with this word by reflecting on it as we ought, by loving it may it not be a book on her shelves may not be dusty history, mindless material from a bygone era that tells us what you did with Israel but has no relevance for us today. Maybe read it as a love letter and so much more than that is a testimony of your power and your greatness in your Majesty esteeming you through your word finding you in that word obeying you because of that word.

Loving you in all things, pray this for Christ you been listening to a message preached at Bob Jones University by seminary professor Dr. Brian hand, which was part of the series of loving God.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue the series here on The Daily Platform