Chris McCurley: Morning. You know, say it every week, there's no place I'd rather be than right here with all of you. I'm proving that this morning, 'cause I'm on vacation, you can tell probably. All my family, kids, grandkids are all in Chattanooga. And I said, you know, I'd love to be here, but I gotta be back with my church family. Maybe exaggerating a little bit. The shepherds did not force me to come back. I just wanted to be with you this week, especially since I'm going to be gone next week. I'm going to be in Mountain Home, Arkansas at ⁓ youth rally, Christquest. And it was actually supposed to be this weekend, and they moved the date, and because I'd already committed, ⁓ I'm gonna be there. But that means I'm gonna miss our interns preaching next Sunday. So you got Blake in the morning, you've got Chance and Cade on Sunday night. I know that you will be blessed by them. And I appreciate so much your support of them. They have been such a blessing to me this summer and ⁓ I've loved these guys. And I'm so glad that they've been able to spend it with us. You know, you guys jokingly say all the time, these guys are gonna take your job, and I'm like, Exactly. That's exactly what we want. That's what we're training them to do is to take my job and to take the jobs of those preachers that will be moving out of the pulpit eventually, and these guys can step right in now, I think. They're that good. But also ⁓ I'm I'm so thankful for their work ethic, their attitude, the way that they have plunged themselves into getting to know this congregation and ⁓ and serving. So I know that you'll treat them well, you have already, but please encourage them next week in my absence, and I'll be back ⁓ on Monday to send them off. You know, you guys ask me a lot of times, are are they coming back? Can we have them back? And I'll be honest with you, I encourage our interns not to come back to get different experiences, not to just land in the same place every summer. Of course Kate is graduating. Blake has already have a d already has another internship secured. ⁓ chance it's up in the air. But ⁓ if they really want to come back, I don't fight it too much, but I always tell them you need to get different experiences. But if you want to come back, I'll probably let you so ⁓ glad you're here this morning. You know, we're studying Psalm one nineteen it's kind of hard to go through the entire Psalm in one setting. So we won't do that this morning. We'll just hit the high points. You know, I used to live in a neighborhood where they installed speed bumps. And I was thrilled initially because there were cars that would race through our neighborhood with no regard for people who were walking or running or riding their bike or kids that were playing. And so the speed bumps encouraged responsible driving. And while they slowed down the lead-footed people, these speed bumps became a nuisance to model motorists like myself. I would try to traverse these humps of asphalt in the middle of the road, always spilling my coffee. And the speed bumps that I once was thankful for, I now was upset about. Initially I was thrilled. But as I had to navigate them, I became less and less impressed and more and more annoyed. They were a nuisance. And rules are kind of like that, aren't they? I I mean the masses seem to get punished for a scant few. That's why rules are put in place, that's why wal laws are made for a small percentage of the population, and the rest of us have to deal with it. And we're all familiar with this dance with rules, aren't we? If it favors us, We favor the rule, but if they're a burden to us, then we simply look at them as a nuisance. And I I think for some this applies to God's rules as well. In fact, some even view the Bible as just a list of thou shalt not, and God is this ruthless taskmaster just right waiting to catch you on a technicality so he can roast you like a marshmallow for all eternity. I remember when I was in high school, my mother ⁓ and father divorced when I was sixteen, so I lived with my mother, and I've told you before, ⁓ my mother and I did not have a good relationship. ⁓ she had passed away in two th ⁓ 2014, I guess it was. And she told me on Fridays and Saturdays the rule was you have to be in by midnight. Now most of those weekends I worked till ten o'clock. And so that gave me a couple hours to go out with my friends, hang out at their house, play video games or whatever. And I remember one night coming home at 11:50, ten minutes before my curfew, and I walk in to her standing at the door with a scowl on her face, saying, Don't you ever cut it that close again? And that made me despise her rule. And I was angry with her as well. What do you talk about cutting it that close? I'm here 10 minutes early, right? Why am I getting in trouble? In fact, I should be praised, right? Some see rules as harsh and restrictive and unreasonable, and there are those who might even go so far as to think that God is unreasonable and that God is harsh and restrictive. And even if we do appreciate the rule, we struggle to abide by them, don't we? All of us can relate to Paul. He says, So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? These words are our words, aren't they? Not only do we read these words, we we feel them with every fibre of our being, doing what we know is wrong, wanting to do the right thing, but doing the wrong thing. These words are our words. And it just feeds sometimes a distaste for rules. But then you have this I will delight in your statutes. I will not forget your word. My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. ⁓ how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Therefore, I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold. Wait, what? You love God's rules? You love God's rules even more so than pure gold? How does someone get to that point? That's a very different mindset than what many people in our culture and even some in the church have towards God's rules or God's commandments. How do we get to the point where we love God's rules? That we love them more than fine gold or pure gold? How do we get that to that point? That's what we're examining this morning in Psalm 119, if you want to turn there. Look with me at the first eight verses of Psalm one nineteen. Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways. You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. ⁓ that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes. Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments, I will praise you with an upright heart, then I will learn your righteous rules, I will keep your statutes, do not utterly forsake me. So these words are an echo of Psalm one. Remember way back at the beginning of this series when we talked about Psalm One? Let's review just a little bit. Psalm one starts out Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. Nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. This psalm is reflecting on the two ways to be human. There's the person who is like a tree planted by a stream, who's who grows tall and strong, whose leaves do not wither, he does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, he doesn't stand in the way of sinners, he does not sit in the seat of scoffers, because a progression is being described here. One who stands, one who who sits. There's a progression here. And the three destructive ways of being human are wicked, sinner, scoffer. So this is a progression that can shape us. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates day and night. What you notice the symmetry. In this sentence, his delight is in the law, and on his law he meditates. By the way, law here is Torah, and Torah simply means teaching or wisdom. You meditate on what you delight in. And the more you meditate on it, the more you delight, and this leads to the good life. So there's two paths, there's two ways of being human. One will lead to flourishing, while the other will lead to withering ruin. And the difference. It's how you choose what you choose to meditate on. By meditating on Torah, you can plant yourself by a river, by stream, and the psalmist injects Garden of Eden language here. We said that before that the psalmist often revert back to the Garden of Eden and they use garden language, and that's happening here. You have tree and streams and fruit and and you have leaves that never wither. When human beings meditate on God's instruction, They become a tree of life that grows big and strong and produces fruit for not just themselves, but for everyone around them. And they have leaves that will not wither. And all of this goes back to the garden and for the purpose for which we were created. Look at it with me. Genesis 1, 26. Then God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds and the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food, and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life. I have given every green plant for food, and it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning. The sixth day. So God creates the first human. In Hebrew, it's the word Adam. And God gives this human a garden and a job. That job was to be an image-bearer, to partner with God, to bear his image in the world, to rule and reign over creation. But something wasn't right. Everything that God created was good. God would create and God would assess and And his assessment was it was good, or in Hebrew, Tov. Everything was Tov. Everything God created was Tov. But there was one thing that God created that was not good, or Lotov, which means not good in Hebrew. And what was it that was Lotov? The fact that Adam was alone. That was Lotov. Everything was good up to that point. And the reason why Adam being solitary was Lotov is because. He could not fulfill God's ultimate plan of increasing, being fruitful, and multiplying, and thus filling the garden, expanding the garden. So that's the problem. And what does God do? He splits the Adam, doesn't he? Then the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. Helper in Hebrew is the word Azore. Helper suitable is Ezer Connecdo. And so for Eve to be a helper or an Azore, an Azore is someone who does something for someone that they could not do for themselves. We read the story of Adam and Eve, and we romanticize it. The first couple on earth, they're in love. It's the first marriage and the first little family unit. But understand what's going on here. Eve is Adam's Azore. David often referred to God as his Azore. Azor means salvation. Eve is Adam's salvation. So very early on, we're introduced to the concept of salvation, right at the beginning of the story. And so now God has two image-bearers to partner with, carrying out the ruling and reigning over his creation. To being fruitful and multiplying. So you have all this goodness, all this potential, but something is still missing. And for humans to carry out this mission, they're gonna need wisdom, aren't they? And how do you get wisdom? Well, God has a tree, more than one, in the garden, and there's a choice. Adam and Eve have a choice whether to Live according to God's will and obey His rules or act on their own to be autonomous and to gain their own wisdom. Folks, that is the core decision that you and I and everyone else in this world have to make every single day. Every single day you decide. Maybe multiple times a day. Am I going to live according to God's will or am I going to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and do things my way? Which one is it going to be? Am I going to gain wisdom through trusting in God? Or am I going to try to gain wisdom through my own efforts? And so, in a very real sense, your own life. Is a continuation of the Eden story. How do you gain wisdom? There's a story you probably heard of it. ⁓ a minister, a boy scout, and an accountant were on a plane, and the pilot comes back and tells them, This plane is going down. There's only three parachutes, and I'm taking one of them. I have a wife and kids at home, and the pilot bails. The accountant grabs another parachute and he said, You know, I'm one of the smartest people in the world. If you don't believe me, just ask me. And he takes a parachute and he he bails. And so now the Boy Scout and the Minister are left there with what they thought was one parachute. And the minister looks at the Boy Scout and says, You know what? I've lived a long life. I have faith. I'm good. You take the parachute. You're young. You've got your whole life ahead of you. And the Boy Scout looks at the minister and says, Hey, we don't have to choose. Smartest guy in the world just took the knapsack. So we've got two parachutes. The the moral of the story being that you know just because you think you're smart doesn't necessarily mean that you are wise. The drama of Eden is presented to us throughout Scripture, and central to this drama is the question: how do I navigate good and evil so that it leads to life with the Father both now and for eternity? This is about man's quest for wisdom. How to find it, how to live by it. And that's where Psalm 119 comes in. We don't have time again to read all of it, but let's just hit some high points. Psalm 119 is a meta reflection on the Hebrew Bible. Every single line of this Psalm contains some kind of reference to the Scriptures. We can say it like this: it is a part of Scripture reflecting on the nature of Scripture. It's a chapter in the Bible reflecting on the meaning and significance of the Bible. Take note of verses 97. Through 104. ⁓ how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119 is examining, it's imagining the entire Hebrew Bible as meditation literature. In other words, the longer you sit with God's word, the wiser you become. The Torah is wisdom literature. You and I meditate on Torah in order to get wisdom. And here's the deal for humans to live out the purpose for which they were created, you're going to need wisdom. We must be able to discern between good and evil. We need to be able to determine what is God's will and what is not. So how are we going to get the wisdom that we so desperately need to carry out God's mission? Remember Proverbs chapter 3? Proverbs chapter 3, verse 8 reads She, wisdom, is a tree of life. To those who lay hold of her, those who hold her fast are called blessed. So wisdom is a tree of life. Again, there's that garden language. And if you want to eat from the tree of life, then here's what you must do: Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things, and give me life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise that you may be feared. Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. Behold, I long for your precepts and your righteousness. Give me life. You want life? Here's how you get it. Again, the Bible repeatedly presents us with contrast: light, dark, dark. You know, life, death. And here we have another contrast. You can live in submission to God's will and wisdom, or you can do what is right in your own eyes. And the Proverb Writer presents this choice, there's really no choice when he says, The fear of the Lord is be the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. In other words, don't be a fool, be a wise guy. And this is where it really hits hard for twenty-first century readers to Because not only do we have the Torah, we have the complete revelation of God. And we are at a major advantage because of that. This book, the Bible that you hold in your hand is your tree of life. It tells us precisely what to do in order to attain wisdom. Not only that, it is a cascade of bad choices, isn't it? We read about the failures of so many, so many great characters of the Bible and their failures. Why are their failures included? To teach us, to help us to gain wisdom. All of us have had great teachers in our growing up years, great coaches. But if we're being honest, some, if not most or all of us, have had some teachers or coaches that were not that great. And while you learn something from the great teachers and coaches, you also learn something from the bad ones, don't you? You learn what not to do. Wisdom is not just found in the Successes, but also the failures. And so we study the successes and the failures. We meditate on God's word and we discern both truth and error. We study these successes, we study these failures, and we walk away with a clearer picture of what God expects from his children. And so this prayer becomes our prayer. We've said that through this entire series. This prayer, all these prayers, become our prayers. Now notice what is written in verse 57. The Lord is my portion. I promise to keep your words. I entreat your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies. I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. At midnight I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules. I'm a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. Teach me your statutes. Teach me your statutes, God. I love your rules. What a very different attitude towards rules and regulations than what we often see in society and in our own life. I don't like the seatbelt law. Can I get that out there? I've never really liked the seatbelt law. Maybe I should explain it like this. I don't like government overreach. I don't care what your political preferences are, and I don't want to talk about ⁓ when we're done. But I'm for small government. Do your job. Enforce the laws, step in when you need to, in other words, stay out of my life. Right? I think government, good government, is kind of like a referee in a big game. They do their job but you don't really even know they're there if they're good. I d I don't want burdensome bureaucracy. Just stay out of my life. Do what you need to do, what we elected you to do. Other than that, just leave me alone. And in the state of Texas, you could not wear a helmet and ride a motorcycle. But you better wear your seatbelt. And I didn't like that. I thought that's my decision. I should be able to make that decision on my own. If I don't want to wear my seatbelt, then I shouldn't have to wear my seatbelt. I know it's a danger, but That's up to me. You shouldn't regulate that for me. But then I started talking to a friend of mine who's a first responder. And he said, you know, Chris, if the seatbelt law keeps me from dragging one more dead person out of a vehicle, I'm for it. He had worked so many accidents where people were deceased or seriously injured because if they'd just worn their seatbelt, they would have survived. And that was a different perspective. I was looking at it, tunnel vision, my own selfish perspective. It gave me a different viewpoint. And the Bible's like that. It opens our eyes to some things that maybe we've never really considered because we had tunnel vision or we wanted it to do, we wanted it ⁓ to be our way, and we we had a selfish perspective. By and large, humans are not big on rules. They seem burdensome and we may question their validity, but God has given rules and mandates and regulations to protect us. Not because he wants to keep us from joy, but to protect us. I told you we're on vacation right now. We've been in Chattanooga since Thursday, and my two-year-old granddaughter is there. And we have an agreement, me and my two-year-old granddaughter. She can do whatever she wants, and I just look the other way. That's our agreement. And mom and dad are not real happy about that. Yesterday it was lunchtime, almost nap time, and she melted down. She threw a fit, as two year olds tend to do. And mom and dad were very firm that you're not getting ice cream. We were going to go to ice cream afterwards. You're not getting ice cream, of course that made things worse. And as a grandfather, I'm sitting there going, just give me you know? And my kids were like, Who are you? Like This is not the same person who raised us. I was very probably a little too militaristic, you know, with them and you know made them toe the line, and here I am just laissez faire as a grandfather. It's hard to watch her melting down. And in her mind, she thinks that her parents just want to keep her from enjoying life. And just want some ice cream. But you didn't eat your lunch. If you're not going to eat your lunch, you don't get ice cream. And they were firm about it. But it's not that my My daughter or my son in law are trying to keep her from joy or keep her from enjoying life. There's rules in place, and those rules are there to protect, to provide, to give you life. That's why God set up the guardrails. Not because he's some ruthless taskmaster, not because he wants to keep you from pleasure, but because he knows what's best. Every time we take the wheel, we end up in the ditch, don't we? I don't know about you, but every time I felt like I knew what was best for me, I've ended up crashing the car. And so we let him drive. Because he knows what's best. He knows the way. He knows the destination. You know, there are so many of you that know the Bible so well. And your Bible is all marked up. It's got, it's highlighted, it's circled. You show it to me, and I'm very impressed. This is a very biblically literate congregation. And it showed. And I'm so blessed to be a part of a congregation like that. But knowing it and living it are two different things sometimes, aren't they? It's not just what you know, it's what you do with what you know. And that's what Psalm 119 is reflecting on. It's not just gaining wisdom, it's taking that wisdom and applying it to your life so that you can be a tree planted by the stream that grows strong, produces fruit, not only for yourself, but for others, and who has leaves that do not wither. That's the goal. Not just to gain knowledge, knowledge is important, you have to have knowledge, but taking that knowledge and translating it into godly living. And remember, we are doing what the psalmists did, what Israel did. We are reflecting or meditating on God's word while we wait for the Messiah. That's what they were doing. They were meditating on Torah while they waited for Jesus. We're waiting for him to return, but we're doing the same thing. We're reflecting on God's word, meditating on it while we wait for his return. I I often receive emails or brochures that are from hunger relief organizations. And they show impoverished children, bloated bellies, and they they're making a plea for for money to help these children who are starving. And it's and it's really ⁓ it's heart-wrenching when you look at the statistics. 800 million people go to bed hungry every night. It's truly sad when you think about that forty percent of our food will go to waste. But I I think about If there was a spiritual brochure that showed my life, a picture of me and my spiritual condition, would I would I be impoverished? Would people feel sorry for me because of my impoverished condition? How about you? What when you really truly examine your life and your spiritual condition, where where are you at in all this? Are you growing? Are you someone who is gaining wisdom by meditating on God's law? Do you delight in his law? Do you seek to live at the center of his will? Business guru Tom Peters was asked at a seminar. What he thought the most important criterion for career success might be. Tom turned, went to the board, and wrote in foot and a half letters, passion. You gotta love what you do. Ray Kroc, the late chief of McDonald's, was serious when he used to say, You've got to be able to see the beauty in a hamburger bun. And Debbie Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookie, says, I'm not a businesswoman. I'm a cookie person. Are you a person of the word? Are you passionate about his word? Are you passionate about the scriptures? Can you see the beauty in the law? Do you want wisdom? Can you say with the psalmist, my soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times? Are we seeking to ingest and digest this book so that we can partner with God in His mission? To be His image bearers in the world, to carry out His mission. You know, the church doesn't have a mission, you realize that, don't you? The church doesn't have a mission. God has a mission. And it's his church. We are the ones. Who are Jesus incarnate in the world around us? His hands and feet. We are the agency by which the story of salvation is to be told. My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. These rules are boundaries, they're guardrails, they're not there to keep us from pleasure or to have fun, but rather to keep us in the best place possible, which is at the center of his will, so that we can dwell with him both now and for eternity. Pray. Most kind and gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, for this opportunity to be here. Thank you so much for your love and grace and mercy. Thank you for your word. And may we be people of the word, people of the person. May we take these words and may we gain wisdom as we follow Jesus. We love you, and it's in your son's precious name we pray. Amen. Will, I think I lost one of my stickers that you gave me, I'm sorry. Ruthie and Will gave me stickers before I came up here. How can we help you this morning? Can we pray with you? Maybe you'd like to learn more about a life of discipleship. Certainly we can discuss that as well. You know, Jesus always said, consider the cost. And perhaps you've considered the cost and realized that it's it's worth it. The price is worth it. And you're ready to put on Christ in baptism this morning, then let's take care of that as well. There's no good reason for you to leave here without being right with God. Come, as Austin leads us in a song, and we stand and sing. I love this. Yeah. Shill and ⁓ so You found the ship and in the ship seed, even though ship seed or Is that the blue when it's had to give and care for me? ⁓ It was