Now this is one of those glorious
statements with regard to the scripture. In verse 89, forever,
O Lord, thy word is settled in the heavens. The statement I thought of with
regard to this statement is the transcendence of the word. I just like the way that sounds.
I don't even know what all it means, but I like the way it
sounds. The utter transcendence of the
word of God, its eternal nature and its perpetuity. How glorious
God's word is. Forever, oh Lord, thy word is
settled in the heavens. David said in Psalm 138, verse
two, thou has magnified thy word above all thy name. There's another one of those
scriptures. I wouldn't even know what all to say about that. It's
so glorious. God's magnified his word above
all his name. Now that ought to give us the
proper attitude of reverence toward his word. When he's magnified
it above all his name, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. How thankful we are to actually
be able to open up his word. And we can't understand any of
it unless he makes it known to us. Thou has forever, oh Lord, thy
word is settled in the heavens. Now think about words. The only way you can know what's
going on in my mind is by the words I communicate. Words are
so important, and this word is the communication of God himself.
Aren't you thankful for that? God makes himself known in his
word. Now, Christ himself is called
the word of God. Let me read a scripture to you
from Revelation chapter 19. You don't have to turn there,
I'll read it. Verse 12, his eyes were as a flame of fire, And on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no
man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God. You know, that's fearful, isn't
it? With regard to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
name is called the Word of God. He is the communication of God.
When God speaks, he says, this is my beloved son, in whom I'm
well pleased. Hear ye him. The word of God. The gospel message is called
the word of God. Turn with me for a moment. I'd
like you to read this with me to 1 Peter 1. beginning in verse 22. Seeing you have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfanged love
of the brethren. See that you love one another
with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God." This is the
word that settled in the heavens, which liveth and abideth forever. And then he quotes Isaiah chapter. Forty, for all flesh is as grass,
and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withers,
and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord
endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you." There's a message, the word of God. There's the written word, the
living word, and the Message, the Word of God. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in the heavens. And this is that word which is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. The Word of God. Forever, O Lord,
thy word is settled in heaven. Verse 90, thy faithfulness is
unto all generations and thou hast established the earth and
it abideth. Now this is an aspect of his
word, his faithfulness. I love to know that there is
one who is utterly faithful. Are you faithful? Most of the
time. That means you're not faithful at all. God is faithful all the
time because that is who he is. His word is utterly faithful. I love the scripture, 1 Timothy
1.15, this is a faithful saying. And the word saying is actually
word, it's the Greek word logos. This is a faithful word that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Aren't you thankful for that
word from God? He didn't come save good people. And let me tell you why I love
this scripture so much. Because of the description of
the people it says he came to save. It doesn't say he came
to save good people or believers. The only description he gives
right here is sinners. I'm so thankful for that. That's
who he came to save. That's a faithful saying. You can totally rely on this
saying. Now, his faithfulness is one
of his attributes, like his sovereignty. He's sovereign all the time.
He's omnipotent all the time. And I love this scripture. In
2 Timothy 2, it says, if we believe not, he abideth faithful. For he cannot deny himself. Now,
what does that mean? If we believe not? Well, if we're
believers, we always believe and we believe not. Isn't that
what the man said? I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Is that not our experience? And
sometimes the we believe not part is all we can see. If we believe not, he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. You see, if I am united to him,
for him to deny me would be for him to deny somebody that's one
with himself, and he can't do that. This is the believer's
identity. I'm in him. I'm one with him. For him to deny me would be for
him to deny himself. He's faithful to all that he
is all the time. He's true. He's faithful. He
cannot break his promise. Lord's faithful. What a glorious
attribute. The Lord is utterly and completely
reliable. He's utterly predictable. You
know, one thing that has always bothered me, and maybe some of
you have said it, I don't remember if you have or not, I've probably
said it before too, but I can't stand it when somebody says,
I want to put God in a box. You can't put him in a box. He
is who he is. And to think that we could put
him in a box? No, you can't. No, you can't.
But he's utterly predictable in the sense that he's always
who he says he is. His attributes are always faithful
and true. And because of that, It says,
thy faithfulness is unto all generations. Thou hast established
the earth and it abideth. They continue this day according
to thine ordinances for all are thy servants. Thou hast established the earth
and it abides. It remains. There's all kinds of talk about
global warming and us ruining the earth and making it uninhabitable. We should be responsible. We should not pollute the environment. We ought to be responsible in
all those things. I'm not advocating any kind of
irresponsibility. Men can't destroy the earth.
The earth is the Lord's. and the fullness thereof, the
world and they that dwell therein. And to think, what arrogance
that we think, well, we've got to keep the earth from being
destroyed. I don't think so. I don't think so. The earth is
the Lord's. It is going on right now because he decreased it. That's why it continues. And
it'll stay that way until he wraps it up. And aren't you thankful
it's that way? The glorious Lord that we know,
He's the one who's in control. Now, like I said, I don't understand
all these global warmings and all that. I don't know what's
real and what's not. And I know we ought to be responsible
in every way to do what we're supposed to do, but you can't
destroy the earth. It's the Lord's and the fullness
thereof. Thou hast established the earth
and it abideth. What in the world's that? Okay. They continue this day
according to thine ordinances for all are thy servants. The earth and everything that
is continues all according to his word. And I love this passage
of scripture for all are thy servants. Believers, unbelievers, angels,
demons, events, everything, no matter what it is, everything
that takes place is God's servant. He controls it. He's using it
according to his sovereign will for his glory. That's true with
regard to everything. Everything, all things work together
for good. to them that love God, to them
who are thee called according to his purpose. Everything's
his servant. Those men that nailed the spikes
into his hands and feet were his servants, doing his will,
doing what he caused them to do. Now they're responsible,
we know that, but all are his servants, and we love it that
way. All are his servants. They continue this day according
to thine ordinances for all are thy servants. And then he says
this in verse 92, unless the law, and that's the Torah, that's
the word that he uses eight or nine different words here in
this Psalm to describe the word of God, precepts, statutes, commandments,
the law. So included in this is the 10
commandments. That's generally what I think
of when I think of the law. Unless the law had been my delights,
I should have perished in my affliction. Now, how can he say
that? The only way the law is my delight
is if I've kept it. In Jesus Christ, I have kept
God's holy law. I don't have anything to worry
about. I see the law fulfilled, completed, And it's my delight. I delight in the law of God after
the inner man. That's what Paul said. And law,
if you're under law, you've got to do something in order to keep
it. It's not going to produce love.
It's just going to produce fear, resentment. But oh, with that
law fulfilled in Christ, Love, and you delight in the law of
God after the inward man. Now, he says, unless the law
had been my delight, I should have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened
me. The reason we'll never forget
them is we've been quickened by them. I think of that scripture
we just read, born of the incorruptible seed, the Word of God. When you were birthed, when you
were given life, it had something to do with the word of God coming
into you and begetting life. The very word of God. And the
reason I'm not going to forget his precepts is by his word,
he's quickened me. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that liveth and
abideth forever. And I find his word, the living
word. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I love
the word of God. It's the word of God that's given
me life. And I find his words to be words
of spirit and words of life. What a blessed thing to See the
word of God. It's not the word of man. You
know, I know that so clearly. This is not the word of man.
This is the word of God. And it's the word of God that's
quickened me. I love that language. I will
never forget thy precepts, for within thou hast quickened me.
I am thine, verse 94. I am thine. Save me, for I've
sought thy precepts. I am dying. Somebody may be thinking, well,
I don't know whether I am or not. I hope I am. Well, I hope
this will help you to help me. I'm dying. Save me. The Syrophoenician woman in Matthew
chapter 15, the Lord had said, I'm not sent, but to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Now when he made that statement,
he's saying, I did not come to save everybody. I only came to
save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And you know what
she did then? She said, Lord, help me. And his reply to her was, it's
not meat. to take the children's bread
and to cast it to dogs. That's the truth, Lord. I'm no more than a dog, but I'm your dog. You're my master. And the dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from the master's table. I admit to being nothing more
than a dog, but I'm your dog. And I think this is the spirit
in which the psalmist says, I'm thine. I'm thine. Save me. That is the most often
repeated prayer of every believer. Save me. Look down and reach
down and save me. Aren't you already saved? I think
I am. I believe I am. Save me. Save
me for myself. Save me out of this mess I've
made. Save me. Save me. What a prayer. Isn't it what Peter prayed? He
was walking on the water to go to the Lord. All of a sudden
he looks at the wind boisterous. He begins to sink. What does
he cry out? Lord, save me. Wasn't he already saved? Yeah.
But that is the, I hope me and you are praying that prayer right
now. Lord, save me. I'm dying. I'm your dog. I'm
your creature. I hope I'm your child. I believe I am. Whatever I am,
Lord, save me. I'm dying. In whatever way it
is, I'm dying. Save me. I hope that's what every
one of us are praying even now. Lord, I'm dying. Save me. For I have sought thy
precepts. This is true of every believer.
To seek the Lord is to seek his precepts, his word, his person
cannot be separated from his word. His person cannot be separated
from this book. This is how he makes himself
known. The word that's forever settled
in the heavens, Christ Jesus, the word, the. Scriptures. Verse 95, the wicked have waited
for me to destroy me, but I will consider thy testimonies. Now,
we can certainly see how this could be seen as the words of
the Lord himself. That was his day-to-day life
with the Pharisees. They were waiting to destroy
him, looking to find some word they could catch. make contradictory
and they were always trying to catch him in his words. They
hated him. They had no love for him. But did not the Lord say,
if they've hated me, they'll hate you. And the point is not
you. It's the gospel you believe.
It's the Christ you believe. He said, if they've hated me,
they'll hate you. And now he says in verse 96,
I love this verse of scripture. He says, I've seen an end. of
all perfection. You don't have to. Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness. Is that the end of all perfection?
Sure is. And I've seen that. Oh, I've
seen it through a glass darkly. I realize that. But I have seen
the end of all perfection in Christ being the end of the law
for righteousness. He's my righteousness before
God. I've seen it. That's what it is to believe
the gospel. If you believe the gospel, you've seen the end of
all perfection. And then he makes this statement,
but thy commandment is exceeding broad. The word of God, it's
beyond our description really. It's exceeding broad. The first
thing that I thought about was the Lord's interpretation of
the law, for instance. In Matthew chapter 5, when he
gives us the true meaning of the law, when he talks about,
you've heard it said of them of old, thou shalt not murder.
But I say unto you, whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause is guilty of murder. Now, most people have not committed
physical murder. Maybe you have, but most people
haven't. But everybody has committed the
murder he's speaking of, and it's murder. You're a murderer. I'm not a murderer. Yeah, you
are. Yeah, you are as far as what God says murder is. What
about the sin of adultery? The Lord said, I say unto you,
whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her in his heart
hath committed adultery. adultery with her already. You see, the law is so spiritual
and wide and exceeding broad. And that's why if you think you've
kept one commandment one time, all you prove is you don't even
know what God's law says. His commandment is exceeding
broad. And I also thought of this. When the Queen of Sheba saw Solomon
in all of his glory, with all of his servants and all of his
riches and all of his might and all of his wisdom, she said,
I've heard. of you, but now that I've seen
you, I see that the half has never been told. And isn't that
true with regard to the word of God? It's so exceeding broad. The half has never been told
and we'll be spending eternity finding out how little we know
and it just keeps getting bigger. And I believe this, the more
you truly know, The more you'll see that you don't know the mystery
of scripture, the glory of scripture. It's exceeding broad and you
know bow down. That's all you can do with regard
to the word of God. Bow down. It's exceeding broad. You see
it's the living word. You know, somebody said to me
recently, well, the Bible is a beautiful piece of literature. You just don't see. This is not
a beautiful piece of literature. This is the inspired, infallible
Word of God. Forever, O Lord, thy Word is
settled. in heaven.