STUDY THEME: THE BIBLE: GOD’S BOOK OF GRACE 2-09-03

"THE BIBLE: ITS VALUE." PSALM 119: 1-16; JEREMIAH 36: 1-28.

PSALM 119: 1-8, 9-11, 12-16; JEREMIAH 36: 2-3, 21-24, 27-28

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO PSALM 119.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, following the shortest in Psalm 117. It is an acrostic of 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The eight poetic lines of each stanza begin with the same Hebrew letter. While the psalmist expresses his love for the law and his desire to obey it, he also recognizes his failures.

E.B. Browning once wrote, "Earth’s crammed with Heaven; and every common bush afire with God; But only those who see take off their shoes; The rest sit round it, and eat blackberries."

As we approach the lesson concerning "The Value of the Bible" we find this same difference of opinion concerning the value of God’s Word. In secular world-views, the Bible is dismissed as irrelevant. Many simply ignore the Bible, but some attack it as useless and out of date. Years ago the atheist Ingersol held up a copy of the Bible and said, "In 15 years I’ll have the Bible in the morgue." 15 years rolled by and Ingersol was in the morgue but the Bible lived on. To the Christian the Bible is the Word of God, which delivers the message of God’s grace or judgment. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction.

A public opinion poll asked the question: "Do you believe the Bible is God’s Word? The results indicate that 72% said YES, it is God’s Word. A second question was: "How often do you read the Bible? Only 12% claimed to read the Bible daily, and 52% admitted that they read it less than once a month. Now what is it about these numbers that appear inconsistent? If we profess to believe the Bible to be the Word of God, should we not be serious students of it?

Today’s lesson considers the Life Question "Why should I value the Bible?" "Because it is a perfect treasure of divine instruction." We should treasure the Bible, be glad we have it and should commit to read and share it regularly.

The value of the Bible is affirmed in many places in Scripture. The two passages in our lesson today are prime examples of that affirmation. Put into the hands of a child learning to read, it remains a precious possession unto old age, furnishing life and inspiration and hope over the years.

The 119 Psalm is a beautiful celebration of the value of God’s Word.

This Psalm, born of love for the law of God, extols the beauty and excellence of the written Word of God (the Bible) in a way found nowhere else. The psalmist uses 8 words to describe God’s written Word. He begins in Vs. 1 with LAW, in Vs. 2 TESTIMONIES, Vs. 4 PRECEPTS, Vs. 5 STATUTES, Vs. 6 COMMANDMENTS, Vs. 7 JUDGMENTS, Vs. 9 WORD, and Vs. 43 ORDINANCES.

I wish we had time to examine the meanings of each of these words used to designate God’s Word. The word "way" in Vs. 9 is used as a synonym for all of these terms. In the use of these varied phrases, and others yet to follow, there is revealed the perfection of the will of God in its methods as well as in its intention. In every possible way needed by man, God reveals His will to meet the need. Human responsibility is marked by the words "walk," "keep," "observe," "respect," "learn." Such obedience to such a will must indeed issue in blessedness.

The Psalmist was determined to so live that he would not sin against God: his goal was to be a godly person---one whose life was pure and pleasing to the Lord. This reveals one of the great values of this treasure called the Bible. The believer who daily meditates on the Word of God for the purpose of doing the will of God will discover the purifying power of such a discipline.

Wander, in Vs. 10, reminds us of sheep that have gone astray. All of us had gone astray before God’s grace overtook us. The danger of wandering continues even after conversion. We often sing: "O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter; Bind my wandering heart to Thee:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above."

Someone has said "This Book will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from this Book." When people have lived according to the Bible, righteousness, peace, and joy have reigned. When people have neglected or wandered from the Bible, sin, strife, and misery have followed.

In Vs. 12 the student/psalmist invites the Divine Author to be his instructor with the result that the psalmist did not turn aside from the Word. The proper attitude for approaching God’s law is in Vs. 12-13

One who loves God’s truth will always be a worshiper of the Lord. Thus the psalmist declared, Praise be to You, O Lord. As we meditate on the Word of the Lord, we become better acquainted with the Lord of the Word. The natural outcome is adoration or praise.

Another product of knowing the Lord is a hunger to learn more of His ways. The psalmist prayed, Teach me your decrees. The word decrees is found 21 times in this amazing chapter; it speaks of God’s sovereign will. The Word of the Lord reveals the will of the Lord. This student was asking to be taught more about the will of God—His decrees.

Have you discovered the joy resulting from obedience to God’s statutes? This term occurs frequently and means "what is ordained or prescribed." Notice the absolute pleasure expressed by the psalmist as he declared, I rejoice in following Your statutes. The Scriptures are a delightful treasure when they become the guides for our beliefs and behavior. The treasure of God’s truth is a resource of joy beyond that of the joys found in great material riches.

These themes of joy and delight continue throughout this song of praise to God for His Word. Only such a person would have written a song of 176 lines, with 22 verses, of 8 lines each, and with each of the lines in a stanza beginning with the same letter of the alphabet.

We return often to that which brings pleasure. Thus this writer maintained, I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. The precepts of the Lord are His mandates, His commands. To meditate on that which God commands is the first step in obedience. To consider His ways means to give undivided attention to that which pleases the Lord. Such devotion to truth always results in godly living.

Finally, we hear the psalmist exclaim to the Lord, I delight in your decrees. O the pure happiness produced by conforming to God’s will for one’s life! Here is a man who had discovered an unending source of pleasure. This is why he pledged, I will not neglect your word. To neglect God’s Word means to cease giving priority to the reading, study, memorization, mediation, and practice of His truth. As believers, we must be committed to a daily discipline of a seeking after the Lord, through consistent personal study of the Bible. It is one thing to have the Bible in your hands, but what counts is having God’s Word in our hearts.

During the second World War, a Marine chaplain told of his ministry among the men of his unit. After one of the bloody battles in New Guinea, the chaplain was walking through the battle area. He came upon a place where a Marine died. Scattered about was the gear of a Marine: his pack, machete, ammunition, food, and writing pad. The chaplain also noticed something else that particularly moved him. He wrote: "As I poked around those forlorn remnants of this unknown Marine, I uncovered near his pack a well-worn NT half hidden in the mud. I rejoiced. It was a good sign. His physical life had been sacrificed on the heartless altar of war, sacrificed on Christmas day, but I like to believe that he knew the secret of peace and eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord. Those who are not Christians do not read their Testaments until they are well worn and much-thumbed.

Just as VS. 10, was a prayer to be kept from wandering from the Word, Vs. 16 ended with a commitment: I will not neglect they word. Many people never open a Bible. Even some church members seldom open their Bibles. They may own an expensive family Bible, which they bring out and dust off when the pastor visits in their home, but it is neglected most of the time. Lets each of us join the psalmist in this commitment not to neglect the Word of God. Let us read it, study it, meditate on it, listen to it preached and taught, and practice what it teaches.

The pastor was visiting in the home of one of his church members. Hoping to impress the preacher she said, "Billy, run get the book that I love so much." The youngster returned wagging the Sears Catalogue.

PLEASE TURN TO THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH CH. 36.

The fourth year of Jehoiakim, that is 605 BC, the year of Nebuchadnezzar’s first move against Jerusalem, just a few years prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 596 BC. This is a significant chapter in the book of Jeremiah. For one thing it is the only passage in the O.T. that shows one way a prophet’s oral messages reached their written form. God told Jeremiah to make a written copy of the Words of God that the prophet had spoken since the beginning of his ministry. Jeremiah had begun his ministry in 617 BC during the reign of the good king Josiah. This chapter took place in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah was a prophet primarily to Judah, but he also had spoken words concerning all the nations.

A roll of a book literally means "a scroll of a writing." More important than the writing material was the fact that God told Jeremiah to put the spoken words into writing. Jeremiah did not write the words on the scroll. He enlisted Baruch to write as Jeremiah dictated to him.

These messages contained warnings to Israel, Judah and all the other nations regarding God’s impending judgment against them. Jeremiah began receiving these communications during the reign of King Josiah. They continued up to the time of this episode, when Jerhoiakim, Josiah’s son, was king, a period of over 20 years.

During the writing, God’s Spirit inspired the writers so that the written product was the Word of God. In some cases the human author had someone else to actually put the words on the writing surface. Jeremiah used Baruch. In writing Romans, Paul used Tertius (Rom. 16:22). God oversaw the entire process so that His revelation was accurate and true.

We cannot tell exactly what parts of the present Book of Jeremiah were in that first copy. The chapters in the book are not in chronological order. Also Vs. 32 tell us that additional material was included in the second copy. The first copy must have been short enough to be read to three different groups on one day. But it must have contained enough of the prophet’s messages of coming judgment to arouse the hostility of the king. The immediate purpose of the written book was to bring together all the messages of the Lord through Jeremiah so that the hearers would hear all the evil that the Lord would send unless they repented. An unspoken reason was that the words of God spoken through Jeremiah could reach more people in his own day and beyond his day. The prophet was mortal, and the written words could long outlast him.

Jeremiah obeyed the Lord’s command by dictating to Baruch all his messages. Upon completing this project, Baruch was sent to the temple to read every word to a gathering of the people. A second reading was requested and received by a group of government officials. When King Jehoiakim heard about the scroll, he called for an official named Jehudi to get the scroll and read it to the king and the officials standing beside him. Jeremiah described the details of this third reading because it serves as an example of total disrespect and contempt for God’s Word.

This event occurred during the ninth month (December); the king was sitting in the winter apartment because of the cold weather---this was a sheltered section of the king’s palace facing the winter sun. The source of heat was a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. Jehudi proceeded to unroll the scroll as he read Jeremiah’s messages. Each time Jehudi read three of four columns of the text, the king took a scribe’s knife, cut off the portion just read, and threw it into the fire. Thus he systematically burned the entire manuscript of the Book of Jeremiah. God’s intended purpose of producing repentance through these messages fail as the king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear. The warnings of impending judgment fell on deaf ears. The Lord hoped to induce such conviction for sin that the king and all who heard these words would tear their clothes as an outward sign of inward remorse, but their hearts were too hardened.

What a contrast Jehoiakim was to his father Josiah. During Josiah’s reign the scroll of the law was found in the temple. When the young king heard the words read, in 2 Kings 22:11 he tore his clothes. Then he set out to uproot idolatry and led in a national spiritual revival. Josiah’s son had no such response. In fact his was the opposite response. In Jer. 36:26 he ordered the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch.

The Lord protected His servants Jeremiah and Baruch by hiding them from the king. He then proceeded to arrange for another complete scroll to be written.

After hiding Jeremiah and Baruch, God told Jeremiah to take another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll. God also told Jeremiah to tell Jehoiakim of the judgment coming on him and the nation. Jeremiah obeyed the Lord and again enlisted Baruch as the scribe. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. God’s Spirit inspired Jeremiah to recall the words from the first scroll and led him to add other messages. His repeated advice to surrender to the Babylonians was ignored and he remained imprisoned until the fall of Jerusalem.

This is one of the best biblical examples of a vicious attempt to destroy the written Word of God and of the indestructible nature of the Word. Throughout history many people have rejected the message of the Bible, and some of them have launched vicious attacks on it. All too often these attacks have attempted to destroy the Bible and those who spread it to others. The enemies of the Bible have sometimes burned copies of the Bible and even those who promoted it, but they have not stopped the distribution of the written Word of God. The Word of God continues to exert its power. The Gideons alone are now distributing a million copies of God’s Word every 6 l/2 days in 176 countries of the world. Already over a billion copies have been placed in over 80 languages. God’s word is indestructible.

Next Sunday from Psalm 19 and 2 Timothy 3 we will see the Bible as the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and religious opinions are to be tried. A. V. Daugherty 2-09-03