Joy and Hope in the Word of God

Lord's Day, June 30, 2024, Connect Church Silicon Valley (with Chinese translation)

Psalm 119:105-112 (NIV)
Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light on my path.
I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
    that I will follow your righteous laws.
I have suffered much;
    preserve my life, LORD, according to your word.
Accept, LORD, the willing praise of my mouth,
    and teach me your laws.
Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
    I will not forget your law.
The wicked have set a snare for me,
    but I have not strayed from your precepts.
Your statutes are my heritage forever;
    they are the joy of my heart.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees
    to the very end.

We have been in Psalm 119 for the past two weeks now, and this will be our third and final Sunday in this psalm.

In the first week, we discussed the value of God’s word in living righteously. We saw how renewing our minds with God’s truth is essential for living a life pleasing to God. Last week, we discussed the unchanging nature of God’s word. We saw how only a foundation in the unmovable word of God will carry us through the storms of this life.

But this week, to conclude our series, what I’d like to do is to move away from considering the benefits of God’s word, which should be clear to us by now. I want to take a deeper look at what it means to love the word of God. I want to ask what it means to earnestly make it our deepest need and passion. It’s clear by now that we ought to read God’s word. But a true love for God’s word cannot be fueled by mere necessity. We need to, above all, find actual pleasure in the inspired word of God. True spirituality is always built upon the transformed desires of the heart. Forced spirituality is false spirituality.

Unfortunately, I would guess that many of us don’t enjoy the Bible. It’s kind of like medicine. It is kind of bitter to the taste but not something that we would ever refuse, because we know we need it. But my question is, what if we, like the psalmist in verse 103, would discover that the Scriptures are not like medicine at all, but, in reality, sweeter to our lips than even honey? That is my dream. My dream is to see brothers and sisters thirsting over the word of God and mining its pages for a new treasure every single day.

So, the goal today is to sketch out a pathway for each one of us to begin falling in love with the Bible. We shouldn’t expect ourselves to be magically lit on fire for the Bible, although that would be nice. But the goal today is just to show what the path looks like and how we might get started. And we will ask the psalmist himself to lead the way for us.

Our time today will be divided into two parts. 1) Why the psalmist found joy and hope in the word of God. 2) How we can imitate him in discovering joy and hope in the word of God.

But before we go any further, I want to prove to you how deeply the psalmist was committed to the word of God as the driving passion of his life. Obviously, we could cite the fact that the psalmist wrote 176 carefully constructed verses just praising the word of God. But beyond that, I want to make a few observations from the text.

First, it is clear that the psalmist does not find himself in an ordinary situation. We may read our Bibles in the morning over some hot coffee, or at night before going to bed. But the psalmist appears to be coming to the word of God from uncomfortable, hopeless, and even dangerous situations. For example, in verse 107, he says that he has suffered much. And it seems that it is only by appealing to the promises of God found in Scripture, which he likely memorized and meditated over a thousand times, that he is able to find the courage and boldness to plead for his life. In verses 109 and 110, he finds himself at risk of death, trapped left and right by his enemies. And yet, perhaps unexpectedly to us, it is in the law and precepts of the Lord that he finds his source of strength and hope in these perilous circumstances.

And then there is the famous and cherished verse 105.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”

He does not say that the word of God is like an instruction manual. He does not say that the word of God is like a self-help book. And he does not say that the word of God is like one of many signs pointing the right way. The psalmist finds himself in the midnight of his soul. There is no sunlight. There is no moonlight. There is no starlight. The word of God shines alone. It is his singular and exclusive passion upon which he draws his very strength for life itself. The question for today is why he found so much joy and hope in the word of God and how we can imitate him and recover the same passion he had.

I propose three answers for why he found joy and hope in the word of God. a) He found joy and hope in the word of God because it was the word of God, b) he found joy and hope in the word of God because it guaranteed judgment upon the wicked, and c) he found joy and hope in the word of God because it patterned and foreshadowed the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ the incarnate Son of God.

a) The psalmist found joy and hope in the word of God because it was the word of God.

What do I mean by this statement? What I mean is that the psalmist’s passion for the Scriptures was an extension of his passion for its source: the living God who created all things. He could not rest without the Scriptures because he could not rest until he was in the presence of God.

Now, a concern that I have is that it is very possible to study the Scriptures without any consideration towards its divine author. There is a danger, especially in our modern day, for us to read Scripture as if it is meant to serve us. We open the pages of the word of God and expect to be assured and comforted. We expect our desires to be satisfied and our fears to be eased.

Now, there is truth in this, so I want to be precise. Scripture is wonderful and it is comforting. But it does not exist to comfort us. It does not exist to assure us. It exists in order to bring glory to the triune God. It exists to reveal the works of God concerning humanity and his creation. And it is only by means of the revelation of God’s glory and works that people such as us can be comforted.

We should not expect to be assured when we open the Bible. We should not expect to be satisfied when we open the Bible. Rather, when we open the Bible, we should expect to hear from the living God and leave the rest up to him.

The psalmist found joy and hope in the Scriptures because they brought him to the feet of his God. He knew that in the Scriptures, he was beholding the glory of the Creator. The psalmist read the Scriptures on his old parchments and recognized that it was as if his own Maker was speaking directly into his ear. He sensed the majesty in the holy words and felt as if he himself was standing there with Moses at Sinai, listening, while trembling, as he heard the heavenly voice in the cloud of fire. And even more unthinkably, he recognized that the words of Scripture constituted the same utterance as the divine speech that brought the entire universe into existence---the same voice that generated electrons and galaxies now transcribed into mere human language.

It is therefore little wonder that he was utterly fixated upon the words of Scripture. They transported him into the bosom of God. They revealed all of his perfections and profundities. Even the simplest and most mundane details carried the total truthfulness and majesty of God. When he cast himself and his fortune upon the promises of the written word, the psalmist knew that he was not resting upon empty platitudes but upon the certain support of the triune Creator. We can have joy and hope in the word of God because it is the word of God.

b) The psalmist found joy and hope in the word of God because it guaranteed judgment upon the wicked.

I won’t spend too long on this point. The idea that judgment can bring hope may sound foreign to most of us. But when we go through the Psalms, we see a major theme where the psalmists plead for judgment and condemnation to fall upon the wicked who disregard the law. In fact, there’s even a name for this: the imprecatory psalms. These make us uncomfortable. Perhaps we wish that the psalmists would love their enemies. Instead, the psalmists wish that their enemies would be cursed. What do we make of that?

Verse 109 is helpful for understanding their mindset. Here, the psalmist says that “he constantly takes his life in his hands.” Presumably this is linked to the next verse, which says that “the wicked have set a snare for me.” Evidently, the psalmist finds himself in a desperate situation where he is being cornered by his enemies. Now we might expect the psalmist to say, “God, save me!” But instead, he says something kind of unexpected. He says, “I will not forget your law.” And the reason why he says this has a lot to do with what we were just talking about.

For the psalmist, the existence of a divine law and a divine lawgiver necessitated a divine judgment. He finds himself in the common situation where evil is winning and righteousness is losing. And it is in those situations where the justice of God becomes an essential ingredient in our hope. His meditation on the law of God led him to find peace in knowing that everything would one day be put right. It was this confidence in the righteous decrees of God that allowed the psalmist to look evil in the eye and not lose hope. This same confidence allowed David to remain loyal to Saul even when Saul was seeking to take his life. And in our own lives, it is trust in the justice of God that allows us to love our enemies. We never have to lose hope when we deal with people who treat us with evil. We know that both vengeance and mercy belong to God and not us. Either our enemies will repent and we have gained a brother or sister in the Lord, or they will receive what they deserve from the hand of God. Therefore, we have joy and hope in the word of God because it guarantees judgment on the wicked.

And yet, of course, if our hope was limited to the judgment of God, that would be no hope at all. Because we ourselves fall under the scope of his condemnation. And that is why there must be something more.

c) The psalmist found joy and hope in the word of God because it patterned and foreshadowed the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ the incarnate Son of God.

The key text for this point comes from verse 108:

“I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word.”

Now, if you are a careful reader, you would’ve realized that when the psalmist talks about the word of God, he is not saying the exact same thing as what we mean today by the word of God. I don’t mean that he had a different Scripture. What I mean is that his Scripture was a small subset of what we have today. Because our Bible is the cumulative collection or canonization of many centuries of writing, the psalmist would’ve only had access to whatever Scripture was already compiled prior to his time. These would’ve included the first five books of the Old Testament and possibly not much more. He certainly did not have a New Testament.

Then how is it that I can claim that the psalmist found joy and hope in the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ? This is a very important question to answer if we want to understand our Bibles well.

I became a Christian five years ago. To be honest, I did not appreciate the Old Testament as a new believer, and I rarely read it. I thought it was boring, weird, and not as enjoyable as the New Testament. Perhaps you can relate to this. It took me a long time to discover the beauty and coherence of the Old Testament.

Nowadays, I find that understanding the New Testament is actually impossible without deep knowledge of the Old Testament. It is the patterns and structures of the Old Testament that helps us to understand who Jesus Christ is and what he accomplished. This means that for us, reading the Old Testament is just as important as reading the New Testament. (If you are interested in this topic, I would commend to you a short online series by Tim Keller called “Discovering the Gospel in Every Book of the Bible.” It is quite helpful and easy to understand.)

But now let’s return to the psalmist. What does he mean when he says: “preserve my life according to your word”? It is my contention that, despite not having the full revelation of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the psalmist understood the promises and historical patterns of Scripture as installments of divine salvation that would escalate beyond his own life to find their endpoint in a future salvation that would bring him eternal life. That final salvation would be what we now know as the death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ. The psalmist saw the promises and salvations recorded in Scripture and anticipated what they pointed to. And it was on the basis of this anticipated promise that he appealed for God to make right upon his promise and thereby save his life.

Let me give some examples. The psalmist read the promise made to Adam and Eve of a descendant that would crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15), and he knew that this promised a Savior who would destroy evil forever.
The psalmist read the story of God’s judgment in the flood and the saving ark of Noah, and he sensed that this foreshadowed a Savior who would withstand the judgment of God to save all who abide in his spiritual ark.
The psalmist read of the Passover lamb, whose blood was shed to avert the punishment of God, and he would’ve understood that there would be another Lamb, whose human blood would be shed to protect the life of his people.
The psalmist read of the crossing of the Red Sea, and he would’ve known that God was preparing for another crossing---not a crossing of water but one of death, and not into a physical Promised Land, but into an eternal kingdom of heaven.
The psalmist read of even the rock that Moses struck to bring forth water in the wilderness, and he would’ve known that there would be another Rock who would likewise be struck, not for a physical wilderness, but for the spiritual wilderness of life, and not to bring forth physical water, but to bring forth a living water, the Spirit of God.
This is only up to the book of Exodus. We could go on and on. The point is, the psalmist trusted in the shadows of the promise of a Savior, and by his trust he was saved. That is why he could not rest apart from the word of God. It told him of his salvation and the means by which he could have life.

Now, we have what the psalmist only had in shadows. We possess the full revelation of what has been accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross upon which he died in order to save sinners like us. If the psalmist could trust in what he did not even see, then surely we can trust in what we now see clearly.

If you are here today and you have not yet known the love of God in Jesus Christ, then you must turn away from your sin and trust in what Jesus Christ has done for you personally on the cross. Search the Scriptures and see the plan of salvation from Genesis to Revelation. Christ is the center and end of all history. Trust in him! He alone has the power to rescue us from ourselves. There is love in no one else but him. The whole Bible tells us about his love, from beginning to end. And it is through discovering this love that we have joy and hope in the word of God.

2) How we can imitate the psalmist in discovering joy and hope in the word of God.

Now that we have clearly established the reasons for why the psalmist delighted in the word of God, let’s now ask ourselves how we can imitate the psalmist in discovering joy and hope in the word of God. It is no surprise that the Scriptures should be our joy and hope and the deepest delight of our heart. But it is one thing to say thing that, and another thing to actually experience that.

I think it can be very discouraging sometimes, just for normal Christians, to know how much they ought to be reading their Bibles and seeing their actual devotional life come nowhere close to that. It can be discouraging to hear encouragements to read our Bibles more while knowing that it’s been weeks or months since we last opened it outside of Sunday morning.

But there is no need to feel discouraged. We do not need to measure ourselves by how much we read our Bibles. However, we do need to measure ourselves by our heart and our love for God and his word. So the question remains. How do we grow our love for the word of God? How do we move from viewing the Bible as a very difficult to understand book that sits in our closet to a living revelation of God that fills our hearts from morning to evening?

Unfortunately, the answer is simpler than most people would like. In order to learn to love the Bible, we must study it and spend time to learn why it is beautiful.

It is like a husband learning to love his wife. The initial act of falling in love was probably effortless. I’m sure that for all of you, when you first believed in the Lord Jesus, every verse of Scripture was like a new jewel in your life. But twenty years on, it’s not quite as easy for a husband to love his wife. And it’s not because she has developed any defect within herself. It’s just a condition of the human heart. Our hearts are hard and stubborn. They must be cultivated and watered. And so, a husband sometimes must learn how to love his wife all over again. What was so easy at first may now require some concentrated effort. He needs to spend time with her and grow in his knowledge of her and open up his own heart. Some people may find this artificial or unnatural or forced. But that doesn’t matter to him, because he is determined to love her according to what she deserves.

We must approach Scripture in a similar way. We must be determined to love our Bibles, and to put in the work required to develop a passion for it. We all know the cost of a life without the word of God. Our determination should be proportionate to that cost.

With my remaining time, I will give 7 personal pointers for growing our love for the Scriptures. These have all been helpful for me personally.

1) Read the Bible cover to cover, over and over again, until you die. Do you know how long it takes to read the Bible out loud, start to finish? Only around 72 hours. A lot, but also not that much. I like to call this “broad” reading. We must read the Bible in its entirety because it is a consistent narrative that builds upon itself. With just five or ten minutes a day, we can easily finish the Bible in two to three years. This is essential for building a foundational knowledge of the Scriptures.
2) Incorporate meditation and memorization. In addition to “broad” reading, it is important to have time for “deep” reading as well. Sit on one or two verses for several minutes and allow God to speak to your heart. Pray over these verses and memorize them. This habit helps us submit to the word of God.
3) Buy a study Bible. I recommend the ESV Study Bible. This also happens to be one of the few study Bibles translated into Chinese.
4) Read books about the Bible. These help you grasp the main themes that you might otherwise miss.
5) Sit under faithful preaching of the Bible. This is especially important for high school students who will need to choose a church in the future. By faithful preaching of the Bible, I mean teaching that instructs accurately and directly from the Scriptures, seeking to communicate and apply the actual meaning of the text, rather than ten useful life lessons or empty, human comforts.
6) Help and receive help from one another.
7) Parents, especially fathers, should model a love for the Scriptures.

With all that in mind, let’s conclude for today by returning to the first verse from our text, verse 105.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”

It is a very sunny day today. But there is a kind of darkness in all of us. Some of us are more aware of this darkness than others, but it is there, and it will not go away. There is only one person who can take away this darkness, and that is Jesus Christ, the true light. So until he returns, just as the moon reflects the sun, we have the Scriptures which reflect the glory of God. And so in the night of life, we walk by faith in this moonlight and we wait patiently in our wilderness. But there will be a dawn, and the morning star will rise in our heart, and the true light will refresh our soul. May that morning come quickly. Until then, let us dedicate ourselves to the study of the word of God.

中文翻译

上两个星期，我们一直在学习诗篇 119篇。今天将是我们讨论诗篇的第三个，也是最后一个主日。上上星期，梁长老带领我们讨论了神话语的价值。基督徒只有遵循神的话，才能过上敬虔的生活。只有当神的真道更新了我们的思想，我们才能过上讨神喜悦的生活。上个星期，崔长老带领我们讨论了神话语的不变性。神永恒不变的话是我们人生的基石，可以带领我们走过人生的风暴。今天的讲道是我们这个系列的最后一讲。让我们不再多说神话语的好处，因为我们都很清楚了。我想跟弟兄姐妹们更深入地探讨一下，我们怎么爱上神的话语？我想问大家，我们怎么“把神的话成为我们心里最真切的需要”？很显然，我们应该读圣经。但对神话语的委身，不能仅仅只是出于我们的需要。更为重要的是，我们必须在神启示的话语中得到真正的喜乐。真属灵是建立在内心更新的愿望上。强迫的属灵是虚假的。

遗憾的是，我们中很多人可能并不享受读圣经。这有点像吃药。药虽然苦，但我们不得不吃，因为我们知道病人必须吃药才能恢复健康。但是，我的问题是，我们是不是也可以像诗人一样，认为神的话不像药那样苦，而是像蜂蜜一样甜？这是我的梦想。我梦想看到兄弟姐妹们渴望上帝的话语，每天都在圣经里挖掘新的宝藏。所以，今天的目标是为我们每个人勾勒出一条开始爱上圣经的道路。我们不应该期望自己会一下子奇迹般地对圣经产生火热的感情。但今天的目标只是展示这会是一条什么样的路，以及我们应该如何开始。那我们就请诗篇的作者亲自为我们引路吧。今天的信息将分为两部分。第一部分，为什么诗篇作者会在神的话语中找到了喜乐和盼望？第二部分，我们如何效仿他在上帝的话语中发现喜乐和盼望。

首先，我想向你们证明，诗篇作者一生都忠于神的话语。当然我们可以说，诗篇作者用了 176 节精心构思的诗句，来赞美神的话。但是，我想跟大家分享一些我从经文中的观察。诗篇作者所处的境况并不普通。我们可能会在早上一边喝着咖啡一边读圣经，或者在晚上睡觉前读圣经。但诗篇作者似乎是在逆境中、甚至绝望和危险的情况下才来到神的话语面前的。例如，在第 107 节中，他说他受了很多苦。诗篇作者可能是在默诵神的话语和应许成千上百次后，才找到了勇气为自己辩护。在 109 和 110 节，他发现自己被敌人围困，处于死亡的危险之中。出乎我们意料的是，正是在神的律法和戒律中，他找到了战胜危险环境的力量和盼望。接下来，诗篇作者写下了著名的也是最宝贵的第 105 节。

“你的话是我脚前的灯，是我路上的光。”

他没有说，神的话是一本说明书。他没有说，神的话是一本自救手册。他也没有说，神的话是许许多多指路牌中的一个。诗篇作者发现自己的灵魂处在暗夜之中。没有阳光。没有月光。没有星光。唯有神的话在发光。唯有神的话语给与他生命力量。今天我们思考的问题是，为什么诗人在上帝的话语中找到如此多的喜乐和盼望，以及我们如何才能效仿他。

我们从三个方面来看，他为什么在上帝的话语中找到喜乐和盼望。第一，因为那是神的话！第二，诗人在神的话语中得到确据，那就是神对恶人终有审判；第三，神的话预表了神子耶稣基督的救赎。

第一，诗人在神的话语中找到喜乐和盼望，是因为神的话语是神的话.

我这么说是什么意思？我的意思是，诗篇作者对神话语的热爱是他对神的爱的延伸。诗人得以安息在神的话语中，是因为他只有在神的里面才能得安息。我担心的是，我们在研读圣经的时候，没有意识到圣经是出自于那位神圣的作者。有一种危险，尤其在当今这个世代，我们往往把圣经当作是为我们服务的工具。我们打开圣经，读神的话语，期望在里面找到确据和安慰。我们期待自己的愿望得到满足，恐惧得到缓解。当然这些都不错，圣经里的经句很美好，很安慰人心。但是神话语的存在，不是为了安慰我们。神话语的存在，不是为了保障我们。神话语的存在，是为了给那位三位一体的上帝带来荣耀！神话语的存在，是为显明上帝对人类以及神所造之物的工作。只有因着显明出上帝的荣耀，人心才得以安慰。

我们不应该期望，一旦打开圣经，我们的人生就得以保障。我们不应该期望，一旦打开圣经，我们的心就能得到满足。而是，当我们打开圣经时，我们应该期待听到永生神的声音，然后，把其余的都交给神。诗篇作者在圣经中找到了喜乐和盼望，因为神的话把他带到了上帝的脚前。他在圣经中，看到了造物主的荣耀。诗篇作者在古老的羊皮纸上阅读神的话，就像他的造物主亲自在他耳边说话。他感受到了神话语的威严，仿佛和摩西一起站在西奈山上，颤抖着，聆听着，似乎听到了云火中神在说话。更加不可思议的是，诗人意识到，经文里的话，就是起初神创造天地说有就有的话。神的话不仅创造了万有，微小到一个电子，宏大到整个星系，而且被转录成人类的语言，所以世人得以认识神。因此，毫不奇怪，诗人完全专注于神的话语。神的话把诗人带到了上帝的怀抱。神的话语显明了神的完美和深奥。即使是最简单、最平凡的细节也体现了上帝的真实和威严。当诗人把自己全然交托在神的话语上，他知道他不是依靠空洞的陈词滥调，而是依靠三位一体的造物主。我们可以在神的话语中获得喜乐和盼望，因为神的话语是神的话。

第二，诗篇作者在神的话语中找到了喜乐和盼望，因为神对恶人终有审判。

我不会花太多时间讨论这个话题。审判可以带来盼望，这个说法听起来可能有点陌生。但是当我们阅读诗篇时，会看到一个贯穿的主题：诗篇作者恳求审判和谴责降临到那些无视法律的恶人身上。这被称为，诗篇里的诅咒。这可能会让我们感到不舒服。也许我们希望，诗篇作者会爱他们的仇敌。相反，诗篇作者希望他们的敌人受到诅咒。我们应该怎么理解？第 109 节会帮助我们理解诗人们的心态。在这里，诗篇作者说“他经常冒着生命危险。” 下一节经文说“恶人为我设下网罗。” 显然，诗人发现自己被敌人逼入了绝境。我们可能以为诗人会说：“神啊，救我！” 但是，他说的话，出乎我们的意料。他说：“我不会忘记你的律法。” 他之所以这么说，与我们刚才谈论的有很大关系。

对诗人来说，神圣的律法和神圣的立法者，必然会带来神圣的审判。他发现自己处于，邪恶正在获胜，而正义正在失败的常见境地。正是在这种情况下，上帝的正义就成为我们盼望的重要组成部分。对上帝律法的思考使诗人得到了平安，因为他知道终有一天，一切都会得到纠正。正是这种对上帝正义法令的信心，让诗人得以直面邪恶，而不失去盼望。就是这样的信心，让大卫即使在扫罗试图夺走他的生命时，也对扫罗保持忠诚。对基督徒而言，是对神公义的信心，让我们能够爱我们的敌人。当我们面对那些恶待我们的人时，我们永远不必失去盼望。我们知道伸冤和怜悯都属于上帝，而不是我们。要么我们的敌人悔改，那样的话，我们在主里得到了一个兄弟姐妹，要么他们会从上帝手中得到他们应得的惩罚。因此，我们对神的话语充满喜乐和盼望，因为它保证了对恶人的审判。

然而，如果我们的盼望仅限于上帝的审判，那就根本没有盼望了。因为我们也在神的谴责之下。这就是为什么一定还有其他的盼望。

第三，诗篇作者在神的话语中找到喜乐和盼望，是因为神的话语预表了，神子耶稣基督的到来和救赎

我们来看第 108 节。

“我受了许多苦；主啊，求你照你的话将我救活。”

如果你仔细读，就会发现，诗篇作者口中神的话语，跟我们今天所说的神的话语不完全相同。我并不是说，他的经文跟我们现在所读的经文不一样。我的意思是，他的经文只是我们今天圣经的一小部分。因为我们现在的圣经是由多个世纪著作的累积，而诗篇作者只能接触到在他那个时代之前已经编纂的经文。这些经文包括旧约的前五本书，可能还有一些其他的书卷。诗人那个时代当然还没有新约。那么，我怎么能说，诗篇作者在耶稣基督的救赎承诺中找到了喜乐和盼望？这对于我们理解圣经非常重要。

我是五年前成为一名基督徒。说实话，作为一个新的信徒，我并不欣赏旧约，很少读它。我觉得旧约圣经很无聊、很怪异，不像新约那么有趣。有些人可能会有同样的想法。我花了很长时间才发现旧约的美妙和连贯性。现在看来，如果不深入了解旧约，就不可能很好地理解新约。正是旧约圣经的模式和架构，帮助我们理解了耶稣基督的角色，以及他成就了什么。也就是说，阅读旧约与阅读新约同样重要。如果你对这个话题感兴趣，我向你推荐美国牧师蒂姆·凯勒制作的网络布道系列，“在圣经的每一本书中发现福音”。他的讲道很有帮助，也很容易理解。让我们再次回到诗篇作者。他说“求你照你的话将我救活”是什么意思？我认为，尽管诗篇作者在他的世代，还不知道耶稣基督的救赎计划，但他应着圣经旧约中记载的历史事件和他们所预表的，就相信神最终的救赎会给他带来永生。最终的救赎，就是圣经新约里记载的耶稣基督的死亡、复活和再来。诗篇作者从旧约中看到了神的应许和救赎并预见了他们指向的内容。正是基于这个预期的承诺，他祈求上帝兑现诺言，从而挽救他的生命。

让我们来看几个例子。当诗篇作者读到上帝对亚当和夏娃许诺说，你们的后代会伤蛇的头（创世记 3:15），他明白这就预表了一位救主的到来，并且要永远消灭邪恶。
当诗篇作者读到上帝在洪水中的审判，和诺亚方舟的故事，他明白这预表了一位救世主将要通过神的审判，来拯救所有藏在精神方舟中的人。
当诗篇作者读到逾越节羔羊的故事，羔羊的血是为了避免上帝的惩罚。诗人明白还会有另一只羔羊，他的血将保护所有被那血覆盖的人。
当诗篇作者读到以色列人穿越红海的故事，他知道上帝正在为另一次穿越做准备——不是穿越水，而是穿越死亡，不是进入物质的应许之地，而是进入永恒的天国。
当诗篇作者读到摩西击打磐石，使之在旷野流出水来，他就明白还有另一块磐石会被击打，为了流出活水，就是上帝的灵。
这些只是记在出埃及记里的，还有其他的例子。诗篇作者信靠的是旧约圣经里预表的救世主，他的信靠使他得救。这就是为什么他只有在神的话语里才能得到安息。诗人在神的话里明白了他的救赎以及他怎样才能获得生命。

而我们却拥有诗篇作者在旧约时代还没有显明的神的救恩。耶稣基督在十字架上为拯救我们这些罪人而死，神的救恩完成并且完全展示给我们。如果诗篇作者可以相信还没有发生的神的救赎，那么我们应该可以相信切切实实已经发生的神的救赎。

假如你今天还不认识神，那么你应该悔改认罪，相信耶稣基督在十字架上为你完成的救恩。当你相信耶稣基督因为爱你的缘故，被钉死十字架，那么你的罪就被赦免了。基督耶稣不仅是所有历史事件的中心，也是终点。相信他！神是爱唯一的源头。整本圣经从头到尾都在告诉我们神的爱。是神的爱让我们在他的话语中获得了喜乐和盼望。

2）我们如何效仿诗篇作者，在神的话语中发现喜乐和盼望呢？

我们已经清楚知道诗篇作者喜悦神话语的原因，现在让我们问问自己，如何效仿诗篇作者，在神的话语中发现喜乐和盼望。虽然我们知道，圣经应该带给我们内心最深处的喜乐。但真正的亲身体验可能是另外一回事。对很多基督徒来说，虽然知道应该多花时间读圣经，亲近神，但常常做不到。这听起来有些令人灰心！我们知道应该读圣经，但是我们没有做到。

但是没有必要灰心。我们不需要以读多少圣经来衡量自己。然而，我们需要反省衡量的是我们心里有多爱神，多爱神的话。现在我们必须面对的问题是，如何培养对神话语的热爱？怎样才能不把《圣经》当成一本放在书柜里，难以理解的书，而是那个可以从早到晚更新我们心思意念，神的启示？

不幸的是，答案其实比大多数人想象的要普通。如果想爱上神的话语，我们必须研究它，花时间去了解神的话为什么美妙。

就像丈夫学习爱他的妻子。最初的坠入爱河可能毫不费力。我确信你们所有人刚信主时，圣经的每一节经文都像是生命中的一颗新宝石。但是二十年之后，丈夫爱妻子并不那么容易。并不是因为妻子在这二十年中产生了什么缺陷。只是因为人的本性如此。人心是坚硬而顽固的。它们必须得到培养和浇灌。因此，丈夫必须重新学习如何爱妻子。起初很容易的事情，现在做起来可能需要花一点心思。丈夫需要花时间陪伴妻子，敞开心扉加深对妻子的了解。有些人可能会觉得这样做，有点做作，有些不自然。但这对丈夫来说并不重要，因为他决心要爱妻子，按照妻子应得的去爱她。

我们必须以同样的心态来对待圣经。我们必须下定决心热爱圣经，并付出必要的努力来培养对圣经的热情。我们都知道没有神的话语的生活，代价是有多大。那么我们的决心就应该和这种代价成正比。

接下来的时间，我将给出 7 条个人建议，希望可以帮助到大家提高对神话语的热爱。

第一，一遍又一遍，从头到尾阅读圣经，直到你在世上的最后一刻；你知道从头到尾大声朗读圣经需要多长时间吗？大约只需要72 小时。很长时间，但也不是那么长。这是“广泛”阅读。我们必须通读整本圣经，因为它是一个建立在自身之上，连贯的叙述。如果我们每天花五到十分钟，就可以轻松地在两到三年内读完圣经。不一定按圣经里面书卷的顺序来读。这对于建立圣经的基础知识至关重要。

第二，默想和记忆相结合。除了“广泛”阅读外，留出时间进行“深入”阅读也很重要。花几分钟时间专心在一两节经文上，让神对你的心说话。用这几节经文祷告，并记住它们。这个习惯会帮助我们顺服神的话语。

第三，买一本研读版圣经。我推荐ESV研读版圣经。这也是为数不多的，被翻译成中文的研读版圣经之一。

第四，阅读有关圣经的书籍。这些书籍可以帮助你理解可能会错过的主题。

第五，聆听忠心信实的讲道。这对于将来需要选择教会的高中生来说尤其重要。忠心信实的讲道，是指准确的，基于圣经的教导和应用，而不是诸如成功学之类的人生建议。

第六，互相帮助。

第七，父母，尤其是父亲，应该为孩子树立热爱圣经的榜样。

让我们回到诗篇119篇第105 节，结束今天的讨论。 “你的话是我脚前的灯，是我路上的光。” 今天阳光明媚。但我们所有人心中都有一种黑暗。我们中的一些人比其他人更清楚这种黑暗，但是黑暗就在那里，不会消失。只有一个人可以带走这种黑暗，那就是耶稣基督，我们的真光。将来有一天，耶稣会再来。在他再来之前，神宝贵的话语美妙地折射出神无比的荣耀，就好像月亮折射出太阳的熠熠光辉。所以，在人生的暗夜，我们在月光下凭信心行走，在荒野中耐心等待。但是黎明会来，晨星会在我们心中升起，真正的光明会让我们的灵魂焕然一新。愿那早晨快点到来。在那之前，让我们潜心学习神的话。