Psalm 119.89-112
So what is the right time? How can you be sure of it?
What is the right anything? How can we know?
There is such a thing as ‘Cork time’
which operates about ten minutes after Irish Standard Time.
In our house there is Heather Faris time which sets the clocks
three to four minutes ahead of where they should be.
This is irritating, but at least it is not random,
you learn to make the calculation to get the real time.
It is not as if the time is made up according to some whim.
There is a standard to refer to and accuracy is essential.
The strange thing is, we all accept the need for accuracy
in technology and science
but some people think when it comes to religion and morality,
to what you believe about God and right and wrong
they can just make it up, their beliefs will be as good as anyone else’s.
But making it up is a lonely and dark place.
What if you have got it all wrong? What is the right time, the right reality?
This is where the Bible supplies us with reliable information.
It has what a translator called ‘the ring of truth’.
Maybe you are not sure that the Bible is true:
We cannot go into every detail of the Bible today
but let me offer you four statements from today’s reading of Psalm 119
which resound with this ‘ring of truth’.
1 God’s WORD SHOWS US THE PLAN OF CREATION
89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
This universe did not happen by chance. It is not random.
There is an underlying plan and reason for everything.
It is the design of a good and loving God.
That is a truth backed up elsewhere in the Bible:
‘in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth …
And God said, ‘let there be light’ and there was light’ …
God’s word is creative. When he speaks, it happens.
Psalm 33.6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth
1 Corinthians 8. 6 ‘there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things came and through whom we live.
John 1.2 through him (through the eternal Word) were made all things’
And in Hebrews 1. 2-3 we are told that God has spoken to us by his Son
whom he appointed heir of all things
and through whom he made the universe
and the Son sustains all things by his powerful word.
As it says in Stuart Townend’s hymn addressed to Jesus:
'You're the Word of God the Father from before the world began.
Every star and every planet has been fashioned by your hand.
All creation holds together by the power of your voice.
Let the skies declare your glory, let the land and seas rejoice!'
This is God’s answer to our wondering and our questioning about what is it all about.
There is a reason, a purpose a plan.
It is to worship God who in Christ has made everything and keeps everything going.
Some people say you cannot answer those questions.
That’s the post-modern position - there is no one big story,
there is no over-arching reason for everything.
Here we are and that’s it. Stuff happens.
But that’s a very dark or, at best, foggy outlook and it doesn’t satisfy.
Is it really by chance that we exist and there’s no reason for anything?
89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
2 God’s WORD IS MORE THAN PERFECT
96 To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.
This is a verse worth thinking through and meditating on.
How can there be a limit to perfection?
What the psalm writer is saying is that everything in this life, however perfect, is limited.
The beauty of a rose, ‘perfect’ but it fades.
The best meal you ever ate ‘perfect’ but you’ll be hungry soon.
The most beautiful piece of music you ever heard -
I think of the chorus of the Hebrew slaves in Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’
which we heard in the open air in the old theatre in Verona.
It was sung unaccompanied,
and I will never know how they held that last note so long and finished together.
Perfect and yet I can never recapture it completely.
To all perfection I see a limit, but …
your commands have no limit.
God’s ‘law’ again here is everything that he wants to say to his people.
Not just his directions how to live the right way
but the invitation to enter a relationship that gets better and better.
It’s well described in the old hymn
‘Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace’
'perfect, yet still flowing fuller every day;
perfect, yet still growing deeper all the way.'
3 God’s WORD PROVIDES WISDOM FOR THE HUMBLE
At first sight vv 98-100 seem more boastful than humble
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
But the wisdom comes from God’s word
not from the person taking it in.
It seems that the people he compares himself with are not grounded in God’s word
not even the teachers and elders and certainly not his enemies.
There is a freshness of outlook
in those who go straight to scripture for their thinking.
In this anniversary year for John Calvin we should be thankful for what that reformer rediscovered
that we need to get back to the Bible’s teaching again and again.
There is no substitute for searching the scriptures for yourself
rather than relying on second hand beliefs.
And if you want God’s wisdom you may more likely find it in a creche than a college.
Heavenly wisdom begins as a gift to babies hidden from the worldly wise.
‘At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit,
said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,
and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. '
Luke 10.21
Down through the ages people have sincerely tried to think their way to God and to peace.
They have tried to understand so that they may believe.
But it’s the other way round.
True wisdom comes when we believe in order that we may understand.
I hope we all understand that we should not wait until we have attained some degree of goodness
before we trust in Christ in order to be fit for him.
We would be waiting for ever in that case.
It is the same with our approach to the truths of God.
If we are waiting to sort out very detail, we will tragically be waiting for ever.
But God gives his wisdom to those who simply say they don’t know everything
and look to him who teach them.
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’
A humble open reverent attitude to God opens the door to wisdom.
As Paul wrote to Timothy the holy scriptures were given
to make us wise to salvation which is through faith in Christ Jesus.
A young American preacher took a walk in the woods one night.
He was struggling with the question, is the Bible really and completely true?
Finally he knelt down and prayed laying his bible on a tree stump in the moon light.
'Oh God, I cannot prove certain things.
I cannot answer the questions some people are raising,
but I accept this Book by faith as the Word of God.
I stayed by the stump praying wordlessly, my eyes moist...
I had a tremendous sense of God's presence.
I had a great peace that the decision I had made was right.'
Was he right? That man was the young Billy Graham
possibly the most well known Christian of the past century
whose unashamed clear preaching 'the Bible says'
has led possibly millions of people to living faith in Jesus Christ.
Sadly, one of Billy's close friends of that time
also a young evangelist, and Billy would claim more talented than himself
had a similar struggle about accepting the Bible
but came to a different conclusion
and ended up trusting his own reason
rather than the scripture as the final authority.
His power in preaching was lost and his faith flickered and disappeared.
I do not claim any more than Billy Graham would
that I can solve all of the Bible's problems
but I do say that there is nowhere else where you will get
reliable information about ultimate reality
nowhere else where you will hear the voice of God clearly and compellingly,
to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Not in the chat shows, not in the newspaper editorials,
nor in music or drama or other great art
nor even in some deep spiritual experience.
But if you read this book openly and humbly
asking God to open your eyes to see wonderful things in his law
you will gain more insight than your teachers
more understanding than your elders.
4 God’s WORD GIVES LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
In 1944 a German sailor’s body was washed up on the west coast of Ireland.
They found in a pocket a package carefully wrapped up containing a New Testament
and inside the cover was written
‘I read this once because of my sister.’
‘I read this twice because of danger.
I read this a third time because of the Saviour.
Before he had left port his mother had given him the New Testament
and his sister had made him promise to read it.
While they no doubt prayed for him he read it the first time
to respect the promise he had made
and he read it another time as he realised his danger
and before he died he was able to write
that he too had come to faith in Jesus as Saviour.
The holy scriptures are able to make you wise to salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus
a lamp for your feet, a light to the path ahead.
So what is the right time? How can you be sure of it?
What is the right anything? How can we know?
There is such a thing as ‘Cork time’
which operates about ten minutes after Irish Standard Time.
In our house there is Heather Faris time which sets the clocks
three to four minutes ahead of where they should be.
This is irritating, but at least it is not random,
you learn to make the calculation to get the real time.
It is not as if the time is made up according to some whim.
There is a standard to refer to and accuracy is essential.
The strange thing is, we all accept the need for accuracy
in technology and science
but some people think when it comes to religion and morality,
to what you believe about God and right and wrong
they can just make it up, their beliefs will be as good as anyone else’s.
But making it up is a lonely and dark place.
What if you have got it all wrong? What is the right time, the right reality?
This is where the Bible supplies us with reliable information.
It has what a translator called ‘the ring of truth’.
Maybe you are not sure that the Bible is true:
We cannot go into every detail of the Bible today
but let me offer you four statements from today’s reading of Psalm 119
which resound with this ‘ring of truth’.
1 God’s WORD SHOWS US THE PLAN OF CREATION
89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
This universe did not happen by chance. It is not random.
There is an underlying plan and reason for everything.
It is the design of a good and loving God.
That is a truth backed up elsewhere in the Bible:
‘in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth …
And God said, ‘let there be light’ and there was light’ …
God’s word is creative. When he speaks, it happens.
Psalm 33.6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth
1 Corinthians 8. 6 ‘there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things came and through whom we live.
John 1.2 through him (through the eternal Word) were made all things’
And in Hebrews 1. 2-3 we are told that God has spoken to us by his Son
whom he appointed heir of all things
and through whom he made the universe
and the Son sustains all things by his powerful word.
As it says in Stuart Townend’s hymn addressed to Jesus:
'You're the Word of God the Father from before the world began.
Every star and every planet has been fashioned by your hand.
All creation holds together by the power of your voice.
Let the skies declare your glory, let the land and seas rejoice!'
This is God’s answer to our wondering and our questioning about what is it all about.
There is a reason, a purpose a plan.
It is to worship God who in Christ has made everything and keeps everything going.
Some people say you cannot answer those questions.
That’s the post-modern position - there is no one big story,
there is no over-arching reason for everything.
Here we are and that’s it. Stuff happens.
But that’s a very dark or, at best, foggy outlook and it doesn’t satisfy.
Is it really by chance that we exist and there’s no reason for anything?
89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
2 God’s WORD IS MORE THAN PERFECT
96 To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.
This is a verse worth thinking through and meditating on.
How can there be a limit to perfection?
What the psalm writer is saying is that everything in this life, however perfect, is limited.
The beauty of a rose, ‘perfect’ but it fades.
The best meal you ever ate ‘perfect’ but you’ll be hungry soon.
The most beautiful piece of music you ever heard -
I think of the chorus of the Hebrew slaves in Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’
which we heard in the open air in the old theatre in Verona.
It was sung unaccompanied,
and I will never know how they held that last note so long and finished together.
Perfect and yet I can never recapture it completely.
To all perfection I see a limit, but …
your commands have no limit.
God’s ‘law’ again here is everything that he wants to say to his people.
Not just his directions how to live the right way
but the invitation to enter a relationship that gets better and better.
It’s well described in the old hymn
‘Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace’
'perfect, yet still flowing fuller every day;
perfect, yet still growing deeper all the way.'
3 God’s WORD PROVIDES WISDOM FOR THE HUMBLE
At first sight vv 98-100 seem more boastful than humble
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
But the wisdom comes from God’s word
not from the person taking it in.
It seems that the people he compares himself with are not grounded in God’s word
not even the teachers and elders and certainly not his enemies.
There is a freshness of outlook
in those who go straight to scripture for their thinking.
In this anniversary year for John Calvin we should be thankful for what that reformer rediscovered
that we need to get back to the Bible’s teaching again and again.
There is no substitute for searching the scriptures for yourself
rather than relying on second hand beliefs.
And if you want God’s wisdom you may more likely find it in a creche than a college.
Heavenly wisdom begins as a gift to babies hidden from the worldly wise.
‘At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit,
said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,
and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. '
Luke 10.21
Down through the ages people have sincerely tried to think their way to God and to peace.
They have tried to understand so that they may believe.
But it’s the other way round.
True wisdom comes when we believe in order that we may understand.
I hope we all understand that we should not wait until we have attained some degree of goodness
before we trust in Christ in order to be fit for him.
We would be waiting for ever in that case.
It is the same with our approach to the truths of God.
If we are waiting to sort out very detail, we will tragically be waiting for ever.
But God gives his wisdom to those who simply say they don’t know everything
and look to him who teach them.
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’
A humble open reverent attitude to God opens the door to wisdom.
As Paul wrote to Timothy the holy scriptures were given
to make us wise to salvation which is through faith in Christ Jesus.
A young American preacher took a walk in the woods one night.
He was struggling with the question, is the Bible really and completely true?
Finally he knelt down and prayed laying his bible on a tree stump in the moon light.
'Oh God, I cannot prove certain things.
I cannot answer the questions some people are raising,
but I accept this Book by faith as the Word of God.
I stayed by the stump praying wordlessly, my eyes moist...
I had a tremendous sense of God's presence.
I had a great peace that the decision I had made was right.'
Was he right? That man was the young Billy Graham
possibly the most well known Christian of the past century
whose unashamed clear preaching 'the Bible says'
has led possibly millions of people to living faith in Jesus Christ.
Sadly, one of Billy's close friends of that time
also a young evangelist, and Billy would claim more talented than himself
had a similar struggle about accepting the Bible
but came to a different conclusion
and ended up trusting his own reason
rather than the scripture as the final authority.
His power in preaching was lost and his faith flickered and disappeared.
I do not claim any more than Billy Graham would
that I can solve all of the Bible's problems
but I do say that there is nowhere else where you will get
reliable information about ultimate reality
nowhere else where you will hear the voice of God clearly and compellingly,
to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Not in the chat shows, not in the newspaper editorials,
nor in music or drama or other great art
nor even in some deep spiritual experience.
But if you read this book openly and humbly
asking God to open your eyes to see wonderful things in his law
you will gain more insight than your teachers
more understanding than your elders.
4 God’s WORD GIVES LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
In 1944 a German sailor’s body was washed up on the west coast of Ireland.
They found in a pocket a package carefully wrapped up containing a New Testament
and inside the cover was written
‘I read this once because of my sister.’
‘I read this twice because of danger.
I read this a third time because of the Saviour.
Before he had left port his mother had given him the New Testament
and his sister had made him promise to read it.
While they no doubt prayed for him he read it the first time
to respect the promise he had made
and he read it another time as he realised his danger
and before he died he was able to write
that he too had come to faith in Jesus as Saviour.
The holy scriptures are able to make you wise to salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus
a lamp for your feet, a light to the path ahead.
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