FACEBOOK--Get Your FACE in the BOOK Psalms 119

Psalms 119 is a psalm by an unknown writer. It is a very creative poem of praise for God's Word. There are twenty-two sections, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section has eight verses. The first letter of each sentence starts with the same Hebrew letter. For example, there are eight sentences that all start with the letter Aleph. Those eight verses are followed by eight sentences that all start with the letter Beth.

"Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1

Do you want to live a life that is blessed? This word means happy, joyful, and blessed. Most people want to be happy. Most people want to have joy. Most people want to be blessed. Whether someone is a true disciple of Jesus or not has nothing to do with desiring happiness. If you went up to an atheist and asked him if he wanted to be happy and joyful, I am guessing that he would say yes. But if you really want to be happy, joyful, and blessed the writer tells us that being blessed happens when we live our lives based upon God's Word.

Blessed are they who keep his statues and seek him with all their heart." Psalm 119:2

Notice the connection of being blessed, keeping God's Word, and seeking after Him with all your heart. Whole-hearted seeking and whole-hearted obedience go hand-in-hand. You cannot say that you are seeking after God with all your heart if you do not spend good quality time with your FACE in the BOOK.

"They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways." Psalm 119:3

The Psalmist says that people who live their lives whole-heartily seeking after God and whole-heartily obeying His Word will be perfect. "They do nothing wrong." WOW! Those are some pretty powerful words.

"You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed." Psalm 119:4

God isn't just talking to hear Himself talk. His Word is a path that He actually expects us to walk down. The expectation is clear. It may not be easy to shallow, but the Psalmist tells us they "are to be fully obeyed." Not partial obedience. Not only when we feel like it. God expects us to fully walk in all of His ways all of the time. How can we walk in all of His ways if we don't get our FACEs in the BOOK and find out what He requires of us?

The writer starts off this Psalm with four verses that when laid on your life weight a ton. You will be blessed if you are blameless in keeping all of God's Word. You will be perfect. You will do nothing wrong. God has expectations and He expects you to live your life 100% of the time according to them!

When I read verse five and six, I can hear the writer breathing out a sigh:

"Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands." Psalm 119:5,6

We can come up with all kinds of different excuses for why we don't spend more time with our FACEs in the BOOK as much as we would like to or know that we should. The excuse "I am too busy" would probably be towards the top of most of our lists. Deep down inside we know that that excuse is like a bucket with lots of holes in the bottom of it. We find the time to do the things that matter to us. "I am too busy!" That may be true...but why are we not too busy to read other books or magazines or to play Facebook games or watch TV or movies or to....? There is a main reason why we don't spend time in God's Word and it isn't being too busy. What is it? First, lets consider some of the purposes for the Word of God.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16

First, notice that all Scripture is useful. It is practical. It is not like the two years of Algebra I took in High School. I was told that it was useful to be able to figure out X2+Y3=Z squared divided by C to the thirty power x _______. God's Word doesn't just say it is useful. It really is.

If we learned and lived our lives based fully on God's Word and God's Word alone, it would make a difference in the way we do business. It would make a difference in our relationships. And in our attitudes. And the way we think about problems and handle them. It would be useful in developing more faith in God and His Word. It is useful information that will lead to transformation.

Second, God's Word is useful for teaching. If I want to teach someone something, I open the Bible and find some verses on the topic of discussion. I study it and prepare a lesson plan for how l want to teach the instructions from God's Word to some person or group of people.

Third, God's Word is useful for rebuking. In other words, someone is acting in a way that I find to be contrary to God's Word so I find a verse of two that I can share with that brother or sister and set them straight. God's Word is useful for bringing conviction.

Fourth, not only does God's Word bring conviction, is useful for correction. The word means: "a straightening up again." God's Word will not only show someone their error, but it will put them back on the right path again. So we can show someone who is erring what they should be doing differently to please God.

Fifth, God's Word is useful for training in righteousness. If someone wants to be holy and righteous, we can use the Word of God to help them be shaped into the image of Christ. Paul told Timothy to train himself to be godly. We can use God's Word for training others in holiness.

WAIT A MINUTE! What about me? Why is it that my first thought is how I can use God's Word to teach, rebuke, correct, and train others? First, the Holy Spirit wants to use the written Word of God to teach, rebuke, correct and train ME to be holy and righteous.

"For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrated even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

Because the Word of God is a book that is alive, it can and will change us. When we finally make the choice to spend some quality time with our FACEs in the BOOK, with our hearts fully submitted to the Word of God, and we let it do what it is intended to do, the Word will bring conviction. If the Word of Christ is ruling in our hearts and minds, it will tell us to do somethings differently.

I promised to tell you one of the main reasons we don't spend the quality time with our FACEs in the BOOK like we know we should. Well, here it is. We know that the BOOK is intended to change us and our flesh does not want to change. So we simply ignore it or give it a cursory glance. We don't dare to stare into the mirror of God's Word too long lest it point out things that need to change!

The Psalmist said: "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands." Did the fear of being convicted of all of the things he was failing to do keep him from considering God's ways? Did it keep him from learning God's Word? No.

"I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me." Psalm 119:7,8

The Psalmist tells the Lord that he will praise God as he continues to learn God's commands. He confesses both the need to learn God's Word and the need to obey it. He makes a commitment to do both.

Like the Psalmist, we need to make a simply, but life-changing decision today. Will we get our FACEs in the BOOK and let the Word of God do what God intends for it to do or will we set our Bibles down and let them collect dust? The choice is up to you and me. I choose to get my FACE in the BOOK. Care to join me?