Sermon 13th November 2016

Today, our Assistant Minister, Gill Taylor, preaches. The reading is from Psalm 119 verses 1 to 16.

As an elderly man was driving down the motorway, his mobile phone rang. Answering it – very bad! - he heard his wife urgently warning him, "George, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on the M4. Please be careful!"

"Honey," said George, "It's not just one car...It's hundreds of them!"

The rules of the road are there for everyone’s good. They keep us safe, they help us get where we want to go. Imagine if there were no rules, if everyone did their own thing, driving on whichever side of the road they wanted, going round roundabouts in both directions, everyone trying to cross at an intersection all at once. There would be terrible accidents; people would get hurt! It would be chaos and eventually we’d all grind to a stop and never get anywhere!

The point is obvious, but when it comes to obeying God’s guidelines for living, it is often missed. The rules and guidelines for Christian living are there for our good, and even, Psalm 119 says, for our joy or delight!

Really?! Let’s take a closer look at Psalm 119. It’s the longest psalm in the Bible, and the longest chapter of the Bible, with 176 verses. It’s one of the psalms written in alphabetic acrostic style. That means it has 22 carefully constructed sections, each corresponding to a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet and each verse beginning with the letter of its section. So the first 8 verses all begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the next 8 verses with the second letter, and so on. This sort of repetition was quite common in the Hebrew culture. People didn’t have their own copy of the Scriptures to read as we do, so God’s people memorised his word and passed it on orally. The structure of this psalm with the letters, allowed for easy memorisation. And almost every verse mentions God’s word or law, as the psalm enthuses and waxes lyrical over God’s word from A to Z! About how wonderful it is to know, to study, to obey and live by God’s word, his laws, commands and precepts.

I guess that’s not necessarily our first response to hearing about obeying and living by God’s word!

We don’t like to be told what to do. What we should do. And we definitely don’t like being told what we should not do! Many of us are naturally a bit rebellious. And even if or when we’re not, most of us chafe under rules; we think they restrict us from doing what we want.

But like the rules of the road, that are essential to keep us safe, and actually give us the freedom to drive where we want to get to in one piece, God’s laws were given to free us to be all he made us to be. Because he knows how best we function – he is the creator designer after all!

Like a manual that tells you how to get the best out of say a complicated camera, with all sorts of fancy features to enhance your photos. Unless you know what they are and press the right buttons at the right time like it says in the manual, or the online manual, you’ll miss out on the features, or maybe use them accidentally when you would be much better not doing so!

Similarly, God’s laws free us from what might cripple us and keep us from being our best.

They aren’t there because God wants to spoil people’s fun. They’re not there because God likes squashing people into a particular shape whether or not it’s good for them, whether or not it will make them happy. No! God’s guidelines for living are the way to live life to the max, to its fullest! One commentator calls this passage “how to live a truly human life”. Because God has made us, designed us, knows exactly how we can function to the very best.

When your mechanic tells you what to do with your car, or your doctor what to do with your body, they’re not telling you what to do arbitrarily, but because they know how your car or your body works! And they know that if we don’t do it, don’t take their advice, it will break down. So if we choose not to do as they say, we’re not only going against them, we are going against ourselves, harming ourselves.

It’s like that with God. As God is creator designer, then everything he says is infused with the wisdom of knowing how the world, and we, will function best. So what he says about how to live, is not just suggestion, it’s authoritative. It’s true; it’s accurate to reality.

So following God’s guidelines for living frees us to live life to the max, as we follow his ways.

God’s guidelines also help avoid ways that lead to trouble.

That’s the other thing about the rules of the road. They help us get to where we want to go. Imagine if we ignored the signs about where we’re trying to get to. What if you drove past the Danger signs when driving near a military range. Or if you drove through a line of traffic cones, only to discover that the bridge you find yourself on hasn’t been finished yet,

and you’re about to drive off the end and fall into the river!

The rules are there because they’re the rules of the road, and it matters which road you take. One road will lead you not just into a cul de sac but ultimately into disaster. The other road leads you to life, life in all its fullness.

God’s guidelines for living are like that. If you choose to live in certain ways, you are choosing behaviour which is in its own character, destructive, to yourself and those around you. An obvious example is that people who regularly get very drunk and go round smashing things up, are damaging themselves and the world around them. It’s not that there’s some arbitrary standard that says such behaviour is wrong and deserves punishment. Such behaviour already shows signs of its destination; it’s obviously damaging in itself.

And the opposite is true too. When people behave in the patterns set out in the Bible, there are signs of life already at work. Consistently telling the truth, not lying, is far more likely to bring about trusting and loving relationships. Being honest at work is more likely to bring respect and job satisfaction than cheating. Being faithful to your marriage partner and vows, is more likely to bring a lasting and fulfilling relationship. If you don’t work 24/7 but take time for rest and relationships, you’ll be in that bit healthier frame of mind, and body probably, and so on.

This explains why the opening verse of the psalm speaks of happiness or blessing in obeying God.

Happy are those whose lives are faultless, who live according to the law of the Lord.

Happy are those who follow his commands, who obey him with all their heart.

Living by God’s guidelines inherently brings good consequences.

But also, you’ll be blessed, or happy, because you can hold your head up high, and not live in fear of some dreadful secret being found out, or full of shame or embarrassment at what you’ve done. You’ll not have energy-sapping guilty secrets or regrets. You’ll have a clear conscience and live freely.

Not surprising then that the psalm says you’ll have joy! In verse 14 it says “I DELIGHT in following your commands more than in having great wealth.”

Commentators say that the Hebrew word used here, sometimes translated into delight, sometimes joy, is the same word that elsewhere describes the delight, joy and happiness that a child brings to its mother.

So keeping God’s laws and guidelines for living, doesn’t need to be a burden or heavy hearted affair. No it’s intended to be a joy, and bring happiness!

So, there’s lots of good reasons why we might want to. Then the question is, how?

The psalm speaks of several ways in which we engage with God’s word in order to obey it. It speaks of God’s law in the heart, the mind, the lips. They’re all mentioned, even just in the first 16 verses of the psalm:

Verses 10 & 11 say “With all my heart I try to serve you; keep me from disobeying your commandments. I keep your law in my heart, so that I will not sin against you.” God’s word in our hearts means it’s precious to us, and deep within us, and we engage with it at the deepest level.

Verse 13 speaks of engaging with God’s laws with our lips, saying or repeating them aloud. When the Jews studied the Torah, the first 5 books of our Bibles, traditionally they murmured it out loud. They took it on their lips not only for others to hear, but also to encourage it to be part of their own selves, of their very bodies.

Then there’s the mind, and studying and meditating on God’s word, see verse 15.

Tim Keller of Redeemer Church New York describes how God’s word often needs unfolding, consideration and study. He says that on its main points the Bible is crystal clear, even a child can understand it. But in other ways, it needs to be unfolded, and to plumb its depths, it needs to be considered, meditated on, studied.

The psalmist keeps asking to be taught by God – sometimes we just don’t get it, and we know we don’t get it, and we have to keep grappling, studying, learning, asking questions and seeking answers.

Sometimes we don’t get it – and sometimes we don’t like what it says. We disagree! Well that’s no surprise, there are always things we see differently from another person, never mind the creator God! If we’re in a real relationship with another personality, of course there’ll be disagreements. God is who he is, and his word is one way God can disagree, contradict, challenge our viewpoint. Sometimes he uses it to tell us what we don’t want to hear!

But this idea that obeying God’s laws and guidelines for living is a good thing, and for our best, for society’s best, is one that our culture really goes against.

We are constantly bombarded with messages that we should “do our own thing”. Please yourself. Be your own boss. No one can tell me what to do. Our culture says there’s no external reality God that we each have to submit to. We’re told there’s no objective right and wrong, it’s for each person to decide for themselves. Everything is relative and it’s up to you. A sense of the right thing to do is an inward subjective feeling, and we’re to go with our hearts. As long as you believe it, then it’s fine for you. And so on.

I think that lot is in direct contradiction with what Psalm 119 says about God’s word and his way to live. And we have to be very sure and determined that we are going to stand against the cultural view, if we want to make progress, benefit from living by the guidelines and get to our destination.

When we have God’s word on our hearts, lips, mind, it will more and more o shape our lives, our viewpoint, our expectations and hopes. It’ll become instinctive, a part of who we are and what we’re like.

And it will free us to live the right way, free to not have to consider what to do in various situations, when we know that something is wrong but we’ve already decided we’re not going to do it. So we’re free, free from cultural expectations and free from dilemmas, even in the storm of temptation.

There’s a terrific quote in Jane Eyre about this, when she’s tempted to do wrong. She’s so tempted by passion she describes herself as mad::

[But] I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?

In the moment of temptation, she did the right thing, because she already knew what that was. Reading God’s word can empower us to act decisively, even or especially in temptation.

The ultimate example of this of course, is in Jesus himself. There are 1800 verses of Jesus’ words, and 180 of them are scripture quotes. Jesus was saturated with the scriptures, and they sustained him when troubles hit him. When he was tempted in the wilderness, his response each time was, “It is written…” Many times through his life and ministry, and right up to the end, in gethsemane, on his way to the cross, when on the cross - scripture was the foundation of his life, made him tick, got him through.

For this series on the psalms, preachers were invited to choose one or more psalms that have helped or spoken to us in the past. I chose psalm 119, to remind us of the joy of obedience, because I have experience of just that. I expect you have too! The joy of knowing you’ve done the right thing, made a wise choice, a life giving, life enhancing, life fulfilling choice! The joy of sensing that we’ve pleased God too. It can indeed be joyful, a delight. Later in the psalm in verse 103 God’s word is described as sweeter even than honey! There have been times in my life when that has been my experience!

BUT. BUT there have been plenty of times too, when I identify with the opposite. Psalm 119 not only reminds us of the joy of obedience, it also reminds us of the pain of disobedience. The trouble that comes from ignoring God’s guidelines for living and going our own way. You know how one little lie leads to another and another and before we know it we’re caught up in a whole web of deceit? You know how stealing one sweet – or kiss, or more, leads to more and more, destructive behaviour and ultimately pain? You know that feeling of “What have I done?” “Why did I do that?” “I wish I could turn back the clock!” ??You know the fear of being found out, the guilt, and shame and misery of going our way rather than God’s way? I certainly do.

The joy of obedience and the misery of disobedience. Psalm 119 reminds us of both, and I think it’s a terrific boost to my desire to read and live by God’s word.

To finish, I have 2 very practical ideas or suggestions we might like to consider to help us do that. Both come from the Bible Society, not surprisingly!

The first relates to Advent, which is now only 2 weeks away! The Bible Society is running an online Advent Challenge. The challenge is to do one act of kindness for each day of Advent, all inspired by the Bible. Each day there’s a choice of 3 challenges, and you pick the one you want to do. It’s called Bringing the Bible to life this Advent.

The second is an easy way of reading a short passage from the Bible each day, with a comment and prayer, on your phone. It’s put together really well, only takes a few minutes, and you can do it whenever and wherever you are with internet access. It’s the Bible Society’s LYFE – L_Y_F_E programme. I really recommend it, and know Cameron does as well. If you don’t have a computer or phone access to the internet, there are

small magazines with daily Bible readings in them, ask me or Cameron about them afterwards.

However we do it, let’s be sure to read and obey the guidelines for living that God has given in his word. Remember, like the rules of the road, it’s the way to freedom, to live our best, to live a joyful life to the max, to the full!

And now let’s pray…