First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu January 17, 2010 Your Word is a Lamp (Bible Verses Devotional Week 1) The Rev. Dr. Dan Chun

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1 SERMON OF THE WEEK First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu January 17, 2010 Your Word is a Lamp (Bible Verses Devotional Week 1) The Rev. Dr. Dan Chun Memory Verse: Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105) Today we begin our sermon series on the Bible Verses Devotional Series, a study of 50 of the most important verses as chosen by the staff. The verses are so important that we should memorize them. If you are new to our church, we are starting a Bible verse memorization program and a new sermon series. The first verse that we will look at is Psalm 119:105. We have a devotional book with Bible verse memory cards that you can pick up today from the Adult Education table in the Fellowship Hall. It s important that you have it because we will be using this booklet for the entire year for sermons, small group studies and personal devotions. And so our new tradition for 2010 is that we will say out loud the reference to the verse together, say the verse and then say the reference again. We will be saying all these together as a congregation. So let us recite together Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Why are we doing Scripture memorization? Why is that so important to our lives? Author Charles Swindoll says, and I quote, I know of no other single practice in the Christian life that's more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. That's right. No other single discipline is more useful and rewarding than this. No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your counseling will be in demand. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified. [Excerpted from Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Copyright 1983 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.] When we meditate on Scripture we find out that it transforms us. It becomes part of us. The secret is to review it! As we go through the series, we go back and review the previous verses. Review, review, review! So let s take a look at our verse for today. We chose an easy one to memorize to kick off the series. It s just one line. But it s also a verse that lays down the foundation for the whole series as to why we want and need to study and memorize the Bible. The verse says, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Word represents God s writings, His law, His perspective. The Bible is God s written Word. And throughout His Word are 1 verses telling us the importance of knowing God s will and having His truth in our hearts. King David said that a young man can keep his life pure by treasuring God s word in his heart. In Psalm 37:31 David wrote, The law of their God is in their hearts; their steps do not slip. And then in Psalm 19:7-8, The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes. David s son, Solomon, who was described as one of the wisest of all, wrote in Proverbs 4:4, "Let your heart hold fast my (God s) words. Keep my commandments and live." The words hold fast come from a single Hebrew term meaning "to grasp, seize, lay hold of." So what does Scripture memory do? It doesn t only give us a firm grasp of God s Word but we also allow God s word to grasp us! We allow God to be written on our hearts. We allow God to speak into us. We allow God s Word to guide us. We will find that when we are meditating on Scripture, God speaks into our lives on what s happening that day! We have guidance and protection.

2 We affectionately refer to the Bible Devotional as the BVD because we see it as the under armor of protection of God for us. The Bible tells us to put on the armor of God. And just like how the knights of long ago wore mail, and how policemen today wear Kevlar bullet proof vests, we will want to have God s Word in us to protect our hearts, mind and body. We wouldn t want to leave home without it. We need to have it on every day as God s Word enables us to live long and healthy. Let s go back to Psalm 119:105: Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and light to my path. What is a psalm? The psalms were written over an extended period of time between 1000 BC and 400 BC (with the exception of Psalm 90, which Moses wrote in about 1500 BC) and were composed by many authors. 73 psalms are attributed to King David of Israel, 49 are anonymous, and the rest are attributed to people named Asaph, Ethan, the sons of Korah and Ezra. Psalms are poetry. It s kind of like the Hebrew hip-hop of that day, which had a definite structure. Hip-hop has a definite and precise beat, rhythm and rhyme. Psalms may seem repetitious to us but keep in mind that centuries ago memorization was the only way to pass on Scripture to others. Psalm 119 is not only the longest Psalm but it is the longest chapter in the Bible. And get this: Psalm 119 is an alphabetic acrostic, meaning each of the 22 stanzas of the poem has exactly eight lines, each beginning with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This was a format used often in Hebrew poetry. The stanzas are not joined together by subject matter but simply by the use of the appropriate letter of the alphabet. As commentator Arthur Weiser said, It s like a multicolored mosaic of thoughts which have in common only their focus on the word and law of God. (Psalms/Weiser,p.739) There are at least nine other acrostic psalms in the Bible, but when translated into English they, of course, lose their ability to be enjoyed in the same way a Hebrew reader would enjoy them. (Boice,p.315) It is thought that the reason for using eight lines in each stanza is the reference to the eight words used in Hebrew to describe God, which is through His law, testimony, precept, statute, commandment, judgment, word, and ordinance. (New Geneva,p.887) And isn t it interesting that the longest psalm and the longest book in the Bible has for its main theme the need to focus on God s Word to guide us in our lives? Why is studying and remembering God s word so important? Studying the Word shows us the right priorities in life. The Word is like an anchor for us. We all need anchors in our life. Kites can t fly high unless it is anchored to the ground. If you let go of the string the kite will just fly aimlessly in the sky. But if someone is anchoring it, and even pulling it at times, then it can fly high and strong. When we are buffeted by the winds of life (challenges, pain, worry) it is Scripture that can ANCHOR us. Verses like Isaiah 41:10 reminds us that God is with us no matter what. 2 Do not be fear, for I am with you. Do not be afraid for I am YOUR God, II will strengthen you, I will help you. I will lift you up with my victorious right hand. That s an anchor! When there is sorrow or anxiety words like that bring us back to God. In that sense, the Bible is like the North Star, which never moves or changes. It guides us toward the direction we need to go. People say there are no absolutes. I say we have to have some absolutes in our lives, some constants or else everything will be random. We need absolutes. We need unchanging truth. The Bible is one of those absolutes. Imagine if you were sailing out on the ocean one night and your GPS conks out. What do you do? If you re like the ancient Hawaiian mariners, you would look up to the stars because as a seasoned sailor you would know that the constellations never change. And depending on the season, you know where they are and you can navigate back to land by using those unchanging constellations as reference. The constellation Orion always looks like Orion. The Big and Little Dippers always look the same. And that is what Scripture is to us. It is God s constellation of truth, His wisdom and His guidance for us all the time. God s Word not only gives us direction but it also gives us priorities and perspective. You see, we can use either the world or the Word to help us form the criteria for what is success or failure. The world clearly says that entertainment, power, sex and money are some of the most important things.

3 When a college football coach makes more money than the college president, the governor of the state, the mayor, the state chief justice, the police and fire chief combined, it shows that the world puts a very high value on entertainment. The football coaches of universities in Alabama, Texas, Southern California and, I date say, Hawaii are some of the highest paid. And it s not because football teams build character and give importance to academics. The money comes from TV entertainment. The Word would say that entertainment and money are not that important. In fact, the Word would say the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). The best way to meditate on the verses in the BVD is to imagine what that verse means all week. Imagine the sights, the sounds, the smells, the touch, the taste and possibly the dialogue surrounding that verse. Whenever we do Bible study we should always look at the verse or passage in those terms. Use your imagination to think of the scene, the context, the people. Now some of you may say, Pastor Dan, I don t have that gift. You might have that gift. Others may have great imagination but I don t have that. And I say to you, Bulgolgi! (That s a Korean dish.) Everyone has the gift of imagination! You know why I know you have that ability? It s because of one word, as Jan Johnson would say. And that word is WORRY. When we worry, our imaginations take off! We think of what might happen and we paint in our minds elaborate scenarios and dramas of how our world will come to an end or how our lives will be cut short. Right? Or when we have been hurt by someone, we replay the hurtful scenes in our heads over and over again, don t we? We always imagine that the attacks to us are so vicious, so cruel. When we defend ourselves in our minds, we are always so fair, innocent and articulate, and we tell them off. How do we use our imagination for meditation when it comes to a simple, seemingly stale, benign verse like, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It would look and feel like this. I start off with a prayer. Lord, what does this verse mean to me? I imagine myself at night. Nighttime, darkness, maybe this is a verse about fears, uncertainty, anxiety. And Your Word, Your presence, Lord, is like a lamp. It s not a big flashing lamp like those Thor flashlights that shoot out 10- million candle power of light. Light pierces the darkness. And Jesus, didn t You say you were the Light of the World? Light can give us your vision. We can then envision your will. It brings wisdom and we are enlightened. And your light can overtake the darkness, bring things to light, take away fear. You can be a light to my feet. Why feet? I use my feet for walking. You are with me every step of the way. That s comforting. Every step, every second, You are with me. Your word has something to say to me for every step of the way. The word is a lamp unto my feet My feet are not very pretty. Kind of dirty, dusty, stinky. There were always foot-washers back 3 then in Middle Eastern homes. But maybe this verse means You accept me as I am. Your lamp does bring to light the dirty part of my life, but You accept me anyway. And it says the word is a light to my path. Well, Gee, God, a lamp is doesn t shine a lot of light, especially back in those days. Basically they were small containers of oil. I can probably only see a few steps ahead of me on the path. I want to see the whole path for miles and miles. But Lord, You don t allow me to see miles ahead because maybe I would be fearful of challenges to come. I would worry and try to control things. But You just give me enough light, enough knowledge and enough strength to get by day by day. Just like when You helped the Israelites in the wilderness. You gave them perishable food called manna that would spoil in 24 hours. They had to trust that the next day You would provide manna again. Just enough manna for a day. Lord, You give me light just enough for that day. For I remember Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow for we have enough worries for today. So thank You Lord, for giving me Your words of love and guidance for Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light to my path. And if there are people here today who are facing financial challenges, an illness, the loss of a loved one, or a difficult relationship, can you see how one verse like this can be an anchor of hope for you to get by one day at a time? That s how we are asking you to meditate and use your imagination every day on the designated verse in the BVD for one week.

4 You see, the Word is also like a car manual. When we buy a car, we need to get it WITH the car manual because the car manual tells us how the car was designed, and how we can best operate it what gas, what oil, what tire pressure, how the knobs work, what s on the dashboard. God designed us, and His manual for living is the Bible. Or as one person said, the first letters of the word Bible stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The Word gives us the rules and the basic instructions to live at the optimum speed, with the best life mileage, and best quality of living. And when we don t follow the rules, there are consequences. Two Wednesday nights ago I was driving home with Pam from Hawaii Kai. About 60 seconds from leaving the home in Hawaii Kai, I slowed down at a stop sign but didn t come to a full stop. As I turned right, I noticed a car to my left about 50 yards away. As I kept driving, I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed that the car had blue lights on top of it! I thought, Gee, I hope that wasn t a police car. Oh, no, it is a police car. Well, gee, I hope it didn t see me. Gee, it seems to moving fast towards me. I hope it is going to pass me and probably go after some drug lord. Oh no, why are the blue lights now flashing? Maybe it got a call to go after some bad guy, and it s going to get him. Gee, why is it not passing me but staying right behind me? Maybe if I pull over to the right it will pass me. Aw gee, why is it pulling over too? My wife Pam the prophet then said, You think it s because you didn t stop at the stop sign? All wives are prophets. The officer came to my window and asked for my driver s license and car insurance. Then he said, Didn t you see the stop sign? Yes. Didn t you see me? Yes, but just as I was making the turn? Couldn t you tell it was a police car? After.a while. Where were you driving from? I was coming from a party, a fundraiser for Hawaiian Islands Ministries. And then I thought, why did I say party? He may think I am drunk. Why did I say fundraiser? He may think I am some rich fat cat, but I was trying to ask for money, not give away money. And why did I say Hawaiian Islands Ministries, what if he hates Christians? He said, You know if I ticket you, that would be a $100 fine. Yes I know. You know you need to stop at stop signs. Yes I know. I was afraid at that point he was going to say my name was going to be removed from the Book of Life! A whole new meaning of the Hawaii 5-0 TV phrase, Book em Danno. 4 Then the officer said, Well, I am going to give you a verbal warning. So next time, drive more carefully. Thank you officer, I really appreciate you doing that. I took some time putting away my insurance card in the glove compartment, hoping he would drive away already, but he chose to wait instead. So I pulled away from the curb, driving not one second over the legal limit. He followed me for a while. But you know, after you have an experience of being reminded of the law you drive really carefully. All the way home I stopped at every stop sign, and looked left and right, looking at least 10 miles each way. At every succeeding stop sign I felt like I was stopping and waiting for one of Egypt s pyramids to be built. I was really careful, and slooooow. When I finally got on the freeway I hit the legal speed limit right on the nose. No five miles grace over. I was right on the limit. 50 mph meant 50 mph not 55, not 60, not even 51. And that is what the Law can do. It reminds us to life safely for our sake and others. And when we read God s word, and are reminded of His truth, if we take it to heart, we live differently. But notice what happened with my experience with that very nice, extremely cool cop. He gave me an experience of truth and grace. He gave me the truth that I had broken the law. But then he gave me grace, by giving me a verbal warning. Grace and truth.

5 Someone else once offered grace to a law-breaker, a woman caught in adultery and then said, Do you seen anyone here condemning you? Neither do I. So go and sin no more. And that was our Lord, Jesus. He offered that woman truth and then grace. And when it comes to God s perfect will and truth, that is Jesus. He is THE Word. In the first chapter of the gospel of John it says this as it describes Jesus as The Word: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God. John 1:3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being John 1:4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. You see He is the ultimate lamp unto our feet who gives us light for our path. And then jumping ahead to the 17 th verse it says: But with truth and grace we have the perfect balance. Jesus gives us law for our good, like fences for true freedom, but He also gives us grace. The Bible speaks of the law but also of grace. But Jesus and His Holy Spirit who can reside in us, we have the perfect combination. We were never to worship the Bible for it really points to the One who would be worshipped and loved and followed. It is Jesus who truly gives us light for our feet and a light for our paths. But we are to respect, revere and digest God s word into our lives, for then we will know even more about life and this great God who wants to be in our lives. For His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Amen? Amen. * * * * * * * * Sunday worship sermons can also be heard on Strength for the Journey, First Prez s weekly radio show. Sunday mornings at 10 on KGU 760 AM. You can also download it from itunes.com. John 1:17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. There it is: grace and truth. Jesus Christ as the Word is the epitome of truth and grace. That is what the police offered me: truth and then grace. If you only have the law you become rigid and legalistic, and if you only have grace you become just sentimental and undisciplined. 5

I wonder if Jewish parents use it to teach their children their ABCs or in their case their ABGs, aleph, beth, gimel.

I wonder if Jewish parents use it to teach their children their ABCs or in their case their ABGs, aleph, beth, gimel. THY WORD IS A LAMP. Rev. Robert T. Woodyard First Christian Reformed Church, Lynden, WA May 1, 2016, 10:30AM Text for the Sermon: Psalm 119:105-112, 9, 18 Prayer: Holy Father, may the words of my mouth