WEBVTT

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 We're in Psalm 119, verses 97 to 104.

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 It's the main...

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 Psalm 119, 97 to 104.

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 Oh, how I love your law.

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 It is my meditation all the day.

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 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,

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 for it is ever with me.

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 I have more understanding than all my teachers,

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 for your testimonies are my meditation.

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 I understand more than the aged,

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 for I keep your precepts.

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 I hold back my feet from every evil way

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 in order to keep your word.

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 I do not turn aside from your rules,

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 for you have taught me.

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 How sweet are your words to my taste,

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 sweeter than honey to my mouth.

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 Through your precepts, I get understanding.

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 Therefore, I hate every false way.

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 About 92%, they say, of Americans own at least one Bible.

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 And they say that the average household has three Bibles.

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 That's pretty crazy, huh?

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 However, as George Gallup,

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 he's the famous pollster,

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 the Gallup polls are named after.

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 He's probably the leading pollster on religion in the country.

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 And the way he puts it is,

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 we revere the Bible as a country,

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 but we don't read it.

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 We revere the Bible, we don't read it.

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 And one of his surveys shows that

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 fewer than half of the Americans

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 can name the first book of the Bible,

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 which I'm confident all of you can do.

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 Only a third know who preached the Sermon on the Mount.

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 Many of the people named Billy Graham

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 as the person who preached the Sermon on the Mount.

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 And the quarter of the Americans who were surveyed

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 don't even know what is celebrated on Easter,

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 that they don't believe that that's the celebration

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 of Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

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 So biblical literacy has steadily declined,

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 even while the percentage of people

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 who are college educated has been going up steadily, right?

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 It's tripled, really, actually, since 1935.

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 But I agree with what Teddy Roosevelt,

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 26th president of the country, said.

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 He said this,

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 a thorough knowledge of the Bible

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 is worth more than a college education.

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 And Roosevelt was not a slouch academically.

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 He went to Harvard for undergrad,

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 went to Columbia for law school.

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 Even during his presidential campaigns,

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 he dedicated about three hours or more

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 to reading and learning about a wide range of topics,

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 including history and ornithology, of all things.

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 And yet he believed, despite all of that,

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 that a thorough knowledge of the Bible

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 is worth more than a college education.

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 And I think that squares with the teaching

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 of Psalm 119, 97 to 104.

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 I think the main point of this psalm

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 is that as students in the school of God,

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 we are to know God's word and keep it.

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 And so first, it talks about,

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 in the first four verses, knowing God's word.

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 And then in the second half,

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 it talks about keeping God's word.

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 And so let's talk about knowing God's word first.

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 The psalmist begins with an admiration of God's law

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 in verse 97.

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 Oh, how I love your law.

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 It is my meditation all the day.

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 I mean, I think this is a common human phenomenon.

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 We think about the things we love.

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 That's what our minds gravitate toward

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 when we're kind of just, I guess,

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 letting our minds drift.

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 And likewise, the psalmist meditate on God's law

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 all the day, it says,

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 because he loved God's law.

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 And so we all believe the scriptures,

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 but do we all love the scriptures?

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 Because that's where we find the mind of God, right?

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 We hear the voice of God.

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 There's a fourth century Christian bishop

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 from Milan named Ambrose,

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 and he put it this way.

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 He says,

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 as in paradise,

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 in the Garden of Eden,

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 as in paradise,

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 God walks in the holy scriptures seeking man.

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 Do we see scripture that way?

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 That God is there to speak to us through it,

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 and he is speaking us from it.

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 And we love God's word because of that

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 and think about it all the day.

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 And the psalmist tells us

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 why he loves God's word so much

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 in verses 98 to verse 100.

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 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,

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 for it is ever with me.

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 I have more understanding than all my teachers,

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 for your testimonies are my meditation.

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 I understand more than the aged,

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 for I keep your precepts.

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 Three comparative sentences

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 that talk about why he loves God's word so much.

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 It's because God's word makes him wiser than his enemies,

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 gives him more understanding than all his teachers,

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 and makes him understand even more than the aged.

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 It sounds a little bit arrogant

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 if you just read that maybe out of context,

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 but it's not arrogance in himself

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 as much as he's boasting in God's word,

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 the virtues of merits of God's word.

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 And of course, it's assuming that the enemies

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 and the teachers and the aged that are mentioned here

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 do not know or keep God's word,

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 like the psalmist is doing.

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 Because if they were,

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 obviously they would be wise also.

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 Because scripture contains the wisdom of God,

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 who is wiser than all the teachers and elders of this world.

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 Knowing and keeping God's word

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 makes us wiser than them all.

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 And this refers to more than,

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 and I think that's the knowledge that matters

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 more than any other kind of knowledge.

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 And it's referring to much more

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 than just theoretical knowledge.

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 Notice it says in verse 100,

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 I understand more than the aged,

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 for because I keep your precepts.

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 In the way people usually talk about scriptures,

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 we wouldn't expect the word keep

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 to appear there in that sentence.

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 You would more likely to read something like,

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 I understand more than the aged,

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 for I study your precepts.

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 Right?

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 But instead it says,

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 I understand more than the aged,

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 for I keep your precepts.

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 And it's keeping God's word

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 that has led him to an increased understanding

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 of God and his word.

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 So there is a kind of a practical

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 and experiential aspect

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 to understanding God's word.

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 Just as, you know,

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 mastering music theory

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 doesn't by itself make you

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 an accomplished musician.

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 Right?

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 And just like, you know,

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 studying the mechanics

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 of shooting a basketball,

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 which I've done many times

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 through YouTube,

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 does not make me

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 a good basketball player.

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 Merely knowing the content

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 of God's word likewise

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 doesn't make us understand it.

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 It doesn't,

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 there's a kind of understanding

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 that only comes through practice.

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 Right?

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 Just like you don't quite understand

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 what it means to walk by faith,

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 not by sight.

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 Right?

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 Until you do it.

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 Until you walk by faith.

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 Until you,

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 in spite of what you see,

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 live by faith.

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 As it says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7.

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 And so it says in John 13, 17,

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 if you know these things,

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 blessed are you if you do them.

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 So as students in the school of God,

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 we are to know God's word

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 and keep it.

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 And from there,

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 the psalmist pivots

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 using verse 100

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 to speak about keeping God's word

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 in verses 101 to 104.

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 And it says there,

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 I hold back my feet

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 from every evil way

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 in order to keep your word.

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 I do not turn aside from your rules,

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 for you have taught me.

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 The psalmist keeps away

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 from every evil way

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 in order to keep God's word.

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 Because God's word contains

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 no evil,

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 no falsity,

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 in order to keep it,

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 we must hold back our feet

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 from every evil way.

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 And it says that he does not

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 turn aside from the rules

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 God has taught him.

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 So he doesn't stray

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 to the left or to the right.

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 He stays right on the path

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 of God's rules.

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 And then he continues

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 in verse 103,

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 how sweet are your words

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 to my taste,

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 sweeter than honey

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 to my mouth.

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 Honey, I mean,

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 we just had a whole bunch

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 of candy for Halloween.

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 Nowadays,

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 there's a lot of things

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 that are sweeter.

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 When you think of something sweet,

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 you don't necessarily

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 think of honey, right?

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 But back in the day,

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 honey was a rare commodity.

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 You can't just walk

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 into a grocery store

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 and get honey for cheap

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 because people hadn't discovered

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 yet how to crystallize sugar, right?

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 That didn't happen

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 until the fourth century.

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 So honey was a coveted

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 and rare sweetener

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 that can be added

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 to all kinds of food and drinks.

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 And so now,

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 even though nowadays

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 we can imagine

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 a lot of things

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 we might rather have

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 than honey,

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 back then honey was like,

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 that's the sweet stuff, right?

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 That's what you want,

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 like, you know,

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 to add to your food.

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 And the psalmist is saying,

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 using that as an analogy,

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 saying that God's word

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 tastes sweeter than honey.

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 And it's such an intimate metaphor,

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 right?

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 Tasting something,

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 taste and see that the Lord is good,

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 Psalm 34.

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 It's more intimate

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 and personal

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 than like any of our other

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 sensory perceptions.

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 It's like,

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 not like seeing

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 or touching

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 or even smelling, right?

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 Those are all things

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 that are external to us, right?

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 Yet tasting,

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 it involves ingesting.

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 It becomes a part of you, right?

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 It's,

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 and that's how intimately

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 the psalmist is acquainted

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 with God's word.

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 He knows the sweet taste

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 of scripture.

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 And I think that's the key

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 to keeping God's word.

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 In his book,

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 Desiring God,

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 John Piper,

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 writes about it this way.

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 He says,

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 I know of no other way

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 to triumph over sin long term

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 than to gain a distaste for it

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 because of a superior satisfaction

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 in God.

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 Right?

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 We develop a distaste for sin

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 by savoring the sweet taste

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 of God's word,

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 by knowing it

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 and keeping it.

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 And then verse 104

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 concludes this stanza

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 by bringing it full circle.

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 It began in verse 97

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 with the declaration,

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 Oh, how I love your law.

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 And then it ends

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 with the declaration,

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 I hate every false way.

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 So if you love

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 the way of God's law,

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 you hate every other way

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 that contradicts it, right?

00:10:37.239 --> 00:10:38.979
 As students in the school of God,

00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:39.739
 we are to know

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 God's word and keep it.

00:10:41.779 --> 00:10:43.179
 And when we devote our lives

00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:44.279
 to knowing and keeping

00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:45.119
 God's word,

00:10:45.339 --> 00:10:46.500
 cover to cover,

00:10:46.500 --> 00:10:47.460
 without fail,

00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:49.559
 it brings us to Jesus.

00:10:49.899 --> 00:10:51.379
 It brings us to Jesus Christ

00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.440
 because He is the incarnate Word

00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.000
 to whom the inscripturated Word,

00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:56.759
 the written Word,

00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:57.519
 bears witness.

00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.519
 And it says in 1 Corinthians 1,

00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:01.679
 18 to 24,

00:11:02.220 --> 00:11:03.620
 For the word of the cross

00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:04.759
 is folly to those

00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:05.519
 who are perishing,

00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:07.639
 but to us who are being saved,

00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:08.960
 it is the power of God.

00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:10.419
 For it is written,

00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:12.480
 I will destroy the wisdom

00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:13.220
 of the wise,

00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:14.399
 and the discernment

00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:15.039
 of the discerning

00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:15.600
 I will thwart.

00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:17.539
 Where is the one

00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:18.079
 who is wise?

00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:19.699
 Where is the scribe?

00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:21.179
 Where is the debater

00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:21.799
 of this age?

00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:24.079
 Has not God made foolish

00:11:24.079 --> 00:11:25.120
 the wisdom of the world?

00:11:25.699 --> 00:11:27.879
 For since in the wisdom of God

00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:29.199
 the world did not know God

00:11:29.199 --> 00:11:29.939
 through wisdom,

00:11:30.459 --> 00:11:31.480
 it pleased God

00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:32.360
 through the folly

00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:33.159
 of what we preach

00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:35.159
 to save those who believe.

00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:37.399
 For Jews demand signs

00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:38.659
 and Greeks seek wisdom,

00:11:38.779 --> 00:11:40.799
 but we preach Christ crucified,

00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:42.740
 a stumbling block to Jews

00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:44.019
 and folly to Gentiles,

00:11:44.019 --> 00:11:45.159
 but to those who are called,

00:11:45.299 --> 00:11:46.439
 both Jews and Greeks,

00:11:46.939 --> 00:11:48.340
 Christ the power of God

00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:50.019
 and the wisdom of God.

00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.039
 For the foolishness of God

00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:53.519
 is wiser than men,

00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:55.340
 and the weakness of God

00:11:55.340 --> 00:11:57.620
 is stronger than men.

00:11:58.120 --> 00:11:59.840
 This really echoes

00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:01.240
 the spirit of this stanza

00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:02.620
 of Psalm 119.

00:12:02.819 --> 00:12:03.840
 The word of Christ

00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:05.460
 stumps the wise

00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:06.419
 and the discerning

00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:07.079
 of this world.

00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:08.679
 It makes us wiser

00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:09.419
 than our enemies,

00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:10.799
 even though they might see it

00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:11.620
 as foolishness.

00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:12.620
 It makes us,

00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:13.759
 the gospel of Jesus Christ,

00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:14.679
 the word of Christ,

00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:15.840
 makes us wiser

00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:16.480
 than our enemies,

00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:17.179
 more learned

00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:17.820
 than our teachers,

00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:18.940
 and more understanding

00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:19.899
 than even the aged.

00:12:21.340 --> 00:12:22.419
 Because it's the wisdom

00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:23.799
 that no man could have imagined

00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:24.679
 or foreseen,

00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:25.720
 that the Son of God

00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:26.360
 would become

00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:27.620
 the Son of Man

00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:29.240
 to make sons of men

00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:30.940
 like the sons of God.

00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:32.639
 That the Holy One

00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:34.379
 would die for sinful ones

00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:35.620
 to make them saints,

00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:36.060
 holy,

00:12:36.180 --> 00:12:37.220
 and set apart for God.

00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:39.100
 In the person and work

00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:39.980
 of Jesus Christ

00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:42.040
 and His life,

00:12:42.180 --> 00:12:42.399
 death,

00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:42.960
 and resurrection,

00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:44.500
 we see the fulfillment

00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:45.340
 of this psalm.

00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:46.840
 And it's as we believe

00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:47.960
 in the word of Christ,

00:12:48.060 --> 00:12:48.820
 in the gospel,

00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:50.259
 and live in accordance

00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:51.420
 with it,

00:12:51.779 --> 00:12:52.660
 that we taste

00:12:52.660 --> 00:12:54.240
 the sweetness of God

00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:55.899
 and develop a distaste

00:12:55.899 --> 00:12:57.180
 for the bitterness of sin.