Last week we saw the objective qualities of God’s word from verses 7-10. It is perfect, trustworthy, right, pure and matchless in value. This week we look at those same verses and see how God’s Word benefits us. In other words, God’s Words are like God’s Table Rules. They are beneficial to us. And that’s what I want us to see now. I want us to see that God’s word benefits us in 5 ways: 1) Refreshes us, 2) Makes us Wise, 3) Gives Us Joy, 4) Gives Us Light, and 5) Is Sweet To Us.
#1 GOD’S WORD REFRESHES US (7a)
First, God’s word refreshes us. Verse 7a says, “The law of the LORD is perfect, REFRESHING the soul.” Refreshing the soul. It has the thought of reviving one’s strength, bringing something back to vigor and good condition, repairing something and making it like new again.
It makes me think of a plant that is droopy and soft but perks back up after some water; or an old car being restored, or a dilapidated house being fixed up. Or think of how encouraged we are after a visit with loved ones or friends and how it “lifts” us up. Think about the resurrected Jesus walking with the two guys to Emmaus. Think about how at first they were all depressed but by the end of their trip they were on fire from all the WORDS Jesus spoke (Lk 24).
Or think about Elijah in 1 Kings 19 and how the Lord refreshed him for his journey. Turn there with me and follow along. See in verse 8 how it says Elijah – who is exhausted, defeated, depressed and giving up – is STRENGTHENED after he eats the food the Lord gives him. The LORD gave Him the food he needed to be revived and keep going refreshed.
And that’s just it: God’s word is the food for our souls that refreshes our souls. “The Law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.” This is twofold: the written word and Christ. The scriptures refresh us. But also keep in mind that Jesus is called “the Word.” Jesus Himself refreshes us. “Come to me all you who are weary,” He says in Matthew 11, “I will give you rest…learn from me and you will find rest for your souls.” Learn from him, learn his words and live by them and rest comes. His words shepherd you. Think of Psalm 23, that most famous passage in all the bible. Refreshing the soul is the very first thing it speaks of that God does, follow along with me in verses 1-3a….
APPLICATION: See God’s word as offering the greatest, purest, deepest rest for your souls. Step into the rest God’s word provides. Therefore, avail yourself more to the ministry of preaching, teaching, discipleship, and personal reading and study of God’s word and watch how it has an ongoing refreshing effect deep within you.
APPLICATION: Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He gives rest that no one and nothing else can give. “Come to me” he invites. Have you taken his invitation?
#2 GOD’S WORD MAKES US WISE (7b)
Then notice the next benefit God’s word gives us is it makes us wise. Verse 7b, “The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, MAKING WISE the simple.”
God’s word makes you wise. Psalm 119:30 says, “The unfolding of your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple.” Deuteronomy 4:6, God tells the Israelites “Observe my commands carefully, if you do this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation Israel is a wise and understanding people.’” Keeping hold of God’s Word will make them wise.
We see many examples in the bible of people gaining wisdom from the Scriptures. Timothy grew in wisdom as he grew up learning the bible from his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 3); John Mark grew more wise after his own failure and learned God’s word as he was mentored by Barnabas and Peter (Acts 15; 2 Tim 4); the Apostle Peter personally grew from the words of Jesus after his denials (John 21) and also after being rebuked by the words of the Apostle Paul (Gal 2); Paul grew as he was taught by Jesus (Gal 1); Apollos grew even more powerful in his ministry after being discipled by Priscilla and Aquilla (Acts 18). The writer of Hebrews wrote his book so that his readers would grow and go on from milk to meat, from abc’s of the faith to the deeper truths (Heb 5, 6). Turn to Psalm 119:98-100
Similar to Psalm 19, the book of Proverbs begins by asserting that it’s sayings “give prudence to those who are simple.” The term simple means someone who is seducible, gullible, impressionable. Its not someone who is evil, its someone who can be led astray very easily because of they are naive and inexperienced. Its people like Ephesians 4 is talking about who are not familiar with God’s word and it describes as “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there bey every wind of teaching and the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” God’s word remedies that vulnerable, naive condition. Wisdom on one hand is the ability to see the right thing to do in God’s eyes in whatever situation you’re in. Wisdom is also the ability to see through deceivers and fraudsters. Simple people are led away by them, but those who are made wise by God’s word are not.
APPLICATION: Time alone does not make anyone wise. Old age all by itself does not make anyone wise. There are plenty of old fools. However, a faithful commitment to God’s word over time makes someone very wise.
APPLICATION: Do not be satisfied being simple. That would be foolish. Commit yourself to growing in wisdom. Start with a fear of the Lord (Prov 1:8); go on to consume God’s word (Ps 19); then sit under good biblical teaching (Neh 8); after that surround yourself with wise people (Pvb 13); from there live out the wisdom you receive (Ps 119:98-103); then, if you are rebuked be sure to repent (Prv 9:8-9). A commitment to gaining wisdom is a commitment to God’s Word.
#3 GOD’S WORD GIVES US JOY (8a)
Third, God’s Word gives us joy. Verse 8a says, “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.” If you want to see joy look at the faces of grandparents when their grandkids come through the door. If you want to see joy just look at the faces of parents when they have the night off because the kids are gone to grandpa and grandmas house! Or think of the joy of a newborn baby, or a wedding, or being accepted into college or a job, or seeing a dear friend after a long-time.
Life has many joys. But there is one unique joy that is above all the rest: the joy of God’s word. Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm at 176 verses and you could title the Psalm “Joyful Obedience to God’s Word” Joy and obedience are the two themes pounding in nearly every verse. “I delight in your decrees,” (16), “Open my eyes to see all the wonderful things in your law” (18), “your statutes are my delight” (24), “Direct me in the path of your commands for ther I find delight” (35), “I delight in your commands because I love them” (47), “Your decrees are the theme of my song” (54), “Your statutes are the joy of my heart” (111).
APPLICATION: Is God’s word your joy? When it is preached, or when it is dove into in Sunday School or 1-on-1 discipleships, or when it is talked about in conversation do you find a particular joy filling you? Do not miss the benefit of that great joy that only comes from God’s word
#4 GOD’S WORD GIVES US LIGHT (8b)
Fourth, God’s word gives us light. Look at verse 8 with me, “The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” God’s word gives light to our eyes. Which on the one hand refers to the ability to see the way you ought to go. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path.” Proverbs 6:23 says, “For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light…” God’s word is a light for our eyes to see the path we should take.
But it goes deeper than merely the ability to see. The bible talks about our eyes as representative of our whole condition. Turn to Luke 11:34-36 with me….See here how our whole body, our whole condition, is related to the condition of our eyes. You can see a lot in someone’s eyes. You can read a person a lot of times by their eyes: joy, sadness, anger, fear, desire, love, hate, lying, honesty. When God’s word changes someone you can see it in their eyes.
So when Psalm 19:8 says that God’s word “gives light to the eyes,” it is telling us that God’s word makes our whole being become full of light. Our entire spiritual condition is changed by God’s word. This is why the NT talks about us being born again, having new life, a new man in the light comes forth in Christ and the old man of darkness passes away and on and on. This is why Saul became Paul, because he was not the man he was before he believed God’s word.
God’s word, which is light, dwells in us by faith. Christ, who is The Word and is The Light, dwells in us who believe in Him. This then is why the bible talks about us being light, “You are the light of the world” Matthew 5 says. Or Ephesians 5 when it says, ‘You were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light.” We are light in Christ and now therefore we must live as light. Which sheds light on Ephesians 4 even more, “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding…”
APPLICATION: Have your eyes been lit up by God’s Word? Jesus said, “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Do you have the Light of Life? Do you have Jesus?
#5 GOD’S WORD IS SWEET TO US (10b)
Lastly, God’s Word is sweet to us. Notice verse 10, “God’s decrees are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.” Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” How pleasant to us are God’s words! Spurgeon said, the Scriptures “breed delight” in us. The early church father, Chrysostom, said, “God’s word is a garden where every truth is a fragrant flower.”
But this is only true for people who believe and hold to God’s word. For others who hate God and His word it is repulsive and bitter. But for us it is oh, so sweet. Just like Paul said that everywhere we go we spread the fragrance of Christ, to some it is the fragrance of death, but to us who believe, Christ is a sweet aroma. We love Christ, so we love His word. God’s word is pleasant to our souls and it is what we enjoy! We love going back to it again and again. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.” God told Ezekiel to eat a scroll and when he did it was sweet as honey in his mouth (3:3).
APPLICATION: If you find the word of God to be sweet to your soul, your soul will not search for pleasures in all kinds of other ways.
CONCLUSION: Communion
God’s word brings benefits into our lives. It refreshes us, it makes us wise, it gives us joy, it gives us light, and it is sweet to our soul’s taste.
You know what else brings us benefit? The Lord’s Table.
Thank you for this explanation. It was of help to me.