Sermon: Sunday, 6th July, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16
Psalm 119 is, of course, the longest Psalm with 176 verses. In a nutshell, it’s a Psalm about the Bible by a person who loves the Bible. Every single verse except for one mentions God’s Word. We have to return to the theme of living according to God’s Word again and again, because it’s the only way to live in order to please God and because it is the only way for us to know lasting peace and joy in life.
Donald Whitney: ‘No spiritual discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. The reasons for this are obvious. In the Bible God tells us about Himself, and especially about Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. The Bible unfolds the Law of God to us and shows us how we’ve broken it. There we learn about how Christ died as a sinless, willing Substitute for breakers of God’s Law and how we must repent and believe in Him to be right with God. In the Bible we learn the will and ways of the Lord. We find in Scripture how to live in a way that is pleasing to God as well as best and most fulfilling for ourselves. None of this eternally essential information can be found anywhere else except the Bible. Therefore if we want to know God and be godly, we must know the Word of God – intimately.’
So, if reading the Bible and living out what it says is so important, we need to keep on reminding ourselves of what this looks like in plain and practical ways.
The section of this Psalm begins (verse 9) with a wonderful question: ‘How can a young person stay on the path of purity?’ In other words, how can we live more like Jesus? What do we need to do to live a God-pleasing life? The God-pleasing life is also the most fulfilling and enriching and peaceful way for us to live, because by following our Maker’s instructions, our lives will work far better than if we go our own way instead, ignoring his instructions.
Although the focus might be on a young person, seeking to get on the path of godliness early in his life, of course, this Psalm applies to all of us today, young, middle-aged and older in years. The answer to this crucial question of how to be godly comes immediately: ‘By living according to your word.’ The key to being like Jesus is to read, meditate and practice what we find in the pages of Scripture.
‘You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.’ (John 15:3)
‘Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.’ (John 17:17)
The rest of this section (vs 10-16) gives us a diagram of what it means to live according to God’s Word. However, before we look at those verses, let’s be clear about what the Psalmist is claiming here. He is claiming that the Bible is truly God’s Word and is the absolute truth. We are not left by God to grope around in the darkness not knowing why he made us or how to live. He communicates to us in love.
In Scotland in 2025, most people reject the idea that the Bible as absolute truth. Most of us know that to be true. Even the hundreds of supernaturally fulfilled prophecies point to that. But most people don’t like being told what to do, not even by their Maker. They want their own moral autonomy. But it’s really important to ask, what takes the place of God’s truth in their lives? They just choose any way they want to live. And because everyone has different ideas about how they want to live, we now live in a relativistic age. People do what is right in their own eyes, and not according to the wisdom of the all-knowing God. Satan wants to delude us into thinking living this way is true freedom. He’s being doing that since he met Eve at the tree.
The thing is, God has already decided the best way for his creatures to live and by kicking against that we do damage to ourselves and others. The opposite is also true. Living a life which truly tries to follow Jesus is a life of blessing. Please don’t miss out on that life. Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ (John 8:12)
Friends, listen to this – it is only as we actively follow Jesus’ commands and principles that we experience the light of life. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? It’s not easy following Jesus in all areas of life but not doing so logically leads to darkness, as we break the Maker’s instructions, and doing so floods your hearts with his life-giving light.
1. True holiness is found when God’s word leads you to prayer
‘I seek you with all my heart…’ (Psalm 119:10) This might seem like a basic point, but it is crucial. We don’t read the Bible just for knowledge; we read the Bible as it leads us to God himself. Since we cannot see God, we can only know him through his Word. The Pharisees had much head-knowledge of the Bible, but they did not know God. So, as we read the Bible, pray beforehand, asking for God’s help. Then we read and meditate on the Bible. And then we move from reading to worship and heartfelt prayer. We do this because holiness or Christ-likeness is found through a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. We listen to him as we read and live out the Bible and talk to him in prayer.
So, although this is a Psalm about reading the Bible, it welds that reading to speaking with God in prayer. Seek him in prayer each day. And what does the Lord promise about seeking him? ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’ (Jeremiah 29:13) Christianity is not just some moral code or philosophy; it is actively pursuing a relationship with God through Bible reading and prayer. Discovering a closeness with God is the greatest human experience imaginable.
I love the balance we find in verse 10. On the one hand, the Psalmist knows he is responsible for getting his Bible out and reading over it carefully and seriously. However, on the other hand he is also humble enough to know that he is weak and can easily be moulded by a godless culture, so he pleads with God for help: ‘…do not let me stray from your commands.’ This Psalm is honest about how easily we wander far from God, like sheep. Usually, the first wandering steps happen when we stop listening to God, when we stop reading his Word. Have you ever stopped listening to God. I have! Friends, each day may the Bible lead you to talking-time with God – relationship with God.
2. True holiness is greatly helped by memorising God’s Word
‘I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.’ (Psalm 119:11) I had stored up piles and piles of old sermon notes on passages which I used to help prepare my sermons. There were thousands of pages. The truth is, I wasn’t going to use them again. They needed to be binned! Storing up God’s Word, however, is different. It means storing up many objects of great value so that they can be used again and again in the future.
Wyn recently shared on our facebook page a fun way of memorising Bible verses – the ‘mumble card method’. It still involves hard work as everything of value does. But it really works. And what happens when we commit Bible verses to memory. For example, in Genesis 39, Joseph is being tempted by Potiphar’s wife. Joseph says to her: ‘How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’ (Genesis 39:9) What would happen to you if you memorised this and many other verses? The Bible is so powerful (a living Word) that this verse would start to change the way you think and even feel about temptation. And as this verse travels through your head and into your heart this results in a change of behaviour. It really changes you. Now, when temptation comes, you are more likely to feel a repulsion to it. You feel differently about it because of the actual power of this verse. And over time, your behaviour changes and you fall less frequently into sin, by God’s grace. ‘Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ Ephesians 6:17) Doubts about God’s wisdom come into your mind, but the verse from Job 38 comes to your mind like a sword, slaying the doubt: ‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.’ (Job 38:4)
3. True holiness asks God for help to understand his Word
‘Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees.’ (Psalm 119:12) Yes, we need to get stuck into our Bibles. However, before we start reading, the best possible think we can do it ask God to help us to understand and to believe and to help us apply it to our everyday lives. Otherwise, we can read the Bible at it just does not resonate. Be humble enough to ask for help. ‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’ (John 14:26)
I love Psalm 43:3 as rendered in the Scottish Psalter: ‘O send thy light forth and thy truth; let them be guides to me.’ This is a great prayer to make before we read the Bible and before we listen to a sermon. God, supernaturally enlighten me. Show me what you want me to see in the Bible.
4. True holiness involves telling others the Word of God
‘With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.’ (Psalm 119:13) Let’s keep this point short and simple: when God’s word seeps into our minds and enlarges our hearts and leads us to a real communion with God in prayer, we cannot help but pass his Word on to others. God’s love floods our hearts and it just comes gushing out.
5. True holiness brings joy to our hearts
Again Satan wants us to think that holiness is boring and starched and a kill-joy and will lead to us missing the best things in life. Listen to verse 14: ‘I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.’ (Psalm 119:14) Possessions usually end up possessing us; they do not bring lasting joy. Wealth certainly counts for nothing from an eternal perceptive. For example, last Sunday evening we looked at the theme of adoption. We are taken into God’s family and made heirs with Christ. We are more loved than we realise by God himself. This brings a deep joy which cannot be taken from us and which no amount of extra thousands in our bank accounts can come close to. Do you want deep joy?
6. True holiness is cultivated by meditation
‘I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.’ (Psalm 119:15) We always remind ourselves that Christian meditation contrasts with new age meditation in that rather than emptying our minds, we fill our minds with Scripture. This takes time. Just as meat needs time to marinade in a sauce, so we must let God’s Word marinade in our hearts. You cannot rush meditation.
Consider this verse: ‘I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.’ (Psalm 16:8) You might write this verse out on paper. You ask questions of it. What does it mean to keep my eyes on the Lord practically speaking? Why will doing this keep me from being shaken? What is it God really wants me to do? Can I turn this verse into a prayer? For example: “Lord, help me to consider the words and actions of Jesus each day so I can keep you before me”.
My old flatmate used to eat roast chicken slowly. He’d take his time and then suck the marrow out of the bones. I don’t really follow this practice. However, that’s how we should dine on God’s Word. Suck all the goodness we can out of it. Take your time. Meditate.
7. True holiness delights in God’s decrees because we delight in God himself
‘I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.’ (Psalm 119:16) Why should we delight in God’s laws? Satan wants us to cringe at them. We delight in the command ‘Do not lie’ because God is a God of truth. Truth is light in the universe stemming from God. So delight in the law to tell the truth.
We delight in the command ‘Do not commit adultery’ because God is a God of total faithfulness in his relationship with his. He is fully committed. His love will not let us go. Faithfulness is light in our universe stemming from God himself. So delight in it.
Let’s go back to the question in verse 9. Do you want to live a pure life? Here’s how not to do it. ‘Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.’ (Proverbs 19:27) Just stop reading God’s Word. That’s enough. But if you do want to live a life knowing Jesus’ light flooding into you, then treasure up, memorise, apply, and pray over his Word. Ask God for the light of understanding and the ability to obey it. And you shall know the power and fellowship of God himself in an enriched life.