Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.meetfaith.org/sermons/39937/awaken-clarity/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Well, good morning again and welcome to faith. We're so glad that you are here together with us today. We are still in our series on worship. And over the last few weeks, we've been talking about some non-negotiables in worship. [0:15] The New Testament is relatively silent on how we are to worship God. But there are some things that, as we worship our Heavenly Father, there are some things that we must, some ways we must come to Him. [0:28] And the first week, we looked in Nehemiah chapter 12 and realized that we are not just a group of individuals who come together to worship. We are a faith family. And when we worship corporately, we are here for one another, to encourage each other, to build each other up, to lift up one another. [0:46] So we are a community. The next week, we looked at Revelation chapter 20 and saw how all worship revolves around the greatness of God. [0:57] And we looked at the throne room of God in Revelation chapter 20 and saw how the angels and everyone who was there, all the worship was about how great and glorious God is. [1:09] The following week, or last week, we looked at John chapter 4 and we were privy to a conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well and saw how important honesty was in our worship. [1:24] We saw the woman at the well. Jesus pointed, very pointedly, say, go get your husband. She said, well, she evaded the issue. I don't have a husband. And he says, you've rightly said. You've had five of them. [1:34] And the one you have that you're living with now is not your husband. And then he, she says, oh, well, now that we're on the subject of my husband, so where should we worship? You know, so she was evading this whole issue and didn't want to be honest with Jesus. [1:48] So we talked about honesty. And this week, we're going to be looking at clarity. When we worship, who are we worshiping? When we worship, how do we know God as he is and as he has revealed himself? [2:01] So we're going to be looking in God's word this morning and see how God's word is central to our worship. It's not about what we feel. It's not about what the current trend in worship is. [2:13] It is who God is and how God has revealed himself in the word that is central to our worship. And as we look at the foundational truth, we're going to be in Psalm 19 looking at this particular psalm. [2:29] But we will see that the foundational truth is worship revolves around or involves a rhythm of revelation and response. [2:39] As we worship, we worship God based on what he has told us. And based on who God is and what he has told us, we respond accordingly. [2:51] And we're going to see that interplay between revelation and response in Psalm 19. Psalm 19 is a beautiful psalm. As a matter of fact, C.S. Lewis said years ago that Psalm 19 was his favorite psalm. [3:05] He said it was incomparable in its beauty, in its poetry. And if you have ever read Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. By the way, we're not going to read Psalm 119 today. [3:18] But Psalm 19 really is Psalm 119 in miniature. It's a microcosm of Psalm 119 because God's word, God himself and God's word is heralded as supreme. [3:34] And everything is based upon the word of God, how God has revealed himself. So let's look at Psalm 19 this morning and see this interplay between revelation and worship. [3:49] To the chief musician, a psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. [4:00] Day unto day utter speech and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. [4:14] In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. [4:25] Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. And then in verse 7, we begin to see this revelation. [4:36] The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. [4:47] The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. [4:57] More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them, by these precepts, these judgments, God's word is your servant warned, or your servant is warned. [5:16] And in keeping them, there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. [5:28] Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. [5:44] So what we see in this psalm is that God has revealed himself. And how we worship God is based on a response to that revelation. [5:54] And what we see first in that revelation is we see that God reveals himself very clearly in the world. As we look at the beginning of Psalm 19, what we see is the heavens declare the glory of God. [6:12] His creation shouts out the greatness and the glory of God. Nature. Nature. What we see is we see natural revelation. [6:23] What God's created, if you look out and see a beautiful sunrise, or if you see and notice the power in a thunderstorm, just in what God's creation does, even in its destruction, there is such power and beauty and majesty. [6:44] As a matter of fact, let's look at Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1, when the apostle Paul is talking about that man does not have any excuse for not knowing God, or at least not realizing that there is a creator and there is a God. [7:02] And in verse 20 of Romans chapter 1, the writer of the book of Romans says, For since the creation of the world, remember we're talking about natural revelation, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen. [7:19] The invisible God can be known just simply by looking at creation, being understood by the things that are made. We look at all cultures around the globe. What is the one constant in every culture? [7:32] Every culture worships. And they will worship, sometimes they will worship the creation, but in doing so they realize that there is something above and beyond themselves. [7:46] And God says, Even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. And so what we see is the nature, its purpose is to glorify God. [8:03] As a matter of fact, in Luke 19, we're told that if we don't shout out and glorify God, who will? The rocks will literally cry out, There is a God, and there is coming a day where we have to face the creator, God. [8:20] And so what we see is natural revelation. As we go through here, what we're seeing is the firmament, the heavens, show his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech. [8:34] Meaning, if you just look out at nature, at God's creation, we see that, you know, you can tell when the sun's going to come up. We know that, because there are laws of the universe. Who put those laws? [8:45] Who set those laws into effect? And what we see here in Psalm 19, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There's no speech or language where their voice is not heard. [8:58] Meaning, there's not a place on planet Earth that we could ever go where we can't see God's handiwork in what he accomplishes. It says, There's no speech or language where there's no speech or language where there's no speech. [9:15] Well, in them he has set a tabernacle for the sun. And he says, Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. Do you remember, it was a couple of weeks ago we talked about the eastern weddings. [9:31] How on the, there was the betrothal, that was the first part of a wedding. And then on the wedding day, you who have ever been a groom, comes out of his chamber, leaves his house, and goes to get his bride. [9:45] Can you imagine the excitement and the anticipation? He says the sun is like that. And it sets its circuit and its course across the sky. And he said it's like a runner that is strong and powerful to run a race. [9:59] That's God's handiwork that we see. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. Meaning everything is affected by God's creation. And so that's the natural revelation. [10:11] It is clearly seen in the world. But there's a problem with natural revelation. You know, it's not complete. Because how will we know that Jesus died for us? How will we know that there is a Savior and how much God loves us? [10:25] And that's where we see the second thing in Psalm 19. And the second truth is that God reveals himself comprehensively in the Word. [10:38] You know, we saw in the world that we see God. God's revelation, so to speak, in nature. But then we see specific revelation. We see him completely comprehensively in the law, the testimony, statutes, commandments, judgments, precepts. [10:59] All the words that are used for God's law, God's Word. And we see several names of God. God is, it starts out in Psalm 19, referring to God as El. [11:11] In the beginning, God created the Creator name. And then we see it change, and we see Lord, His personal name, Yahweh. [11:24] And every single 7 through 11, verses 1 through 6, talks about creation and how God is seen in creation. His revelation to the world naturally. [11:35] And then we see His specific revelation, verses 7 through 11, talks about God and how important the Word is. The law, the precepts, the commandments, the judgments, and how they work in our lives. [11:47] And we see God all through this. And we see six attributes of God. Let's take a look as we start off in verse 7. [11:58] The law of the Lord is perfect. What we see is God revealing Himself comprehensively in the Word. But next we see the Word is sufficient. [12:09] The Word, it's perfect. Not only is it free of any flaw, free of any error. That Word there also carries with it the idea that His Word is complete. [12:23] It's sufficient. It is all we need. It's comprehensive. And it's all we need for life. [12:33] Do you realize that God is not up in heaven thinking, oh, this technology. Oh, you know, transgenderism. That, you know, I didn't see that coming. [12:46] No. And He's saying, you know what, I wish I would have included a 67th book for those people in the 21st century. God's not up there saying that. Why? Because it's complete. [12:56] It's sufficient for our daily living, for understanding, being wise, and pleasing God. So the Word of God is sufficient. [13:08] The law is perfect. So we're going to see, first of all, what we're going to see is we're going to see what His Word is. And then we're going to see what the Word produces in just a moment. [13:19] So first of all, the Word, it's sufficient. It's not the Bible plus Oprah. It's not the Bible plus the newest, latest philosophy out there. [13:31] It's sola scriptura. It is just the Word of God that we need. You know, authors that are led by God's Holy Spirit as He's given them knowledge to write are good. [13:43] I mean, pastors who are in here, you know, we read other, we read commentators, we read others. But you know what? At the end of the day, it's God's Word that we must stand upon. [13:56] So it is sufficient. Secondly, we see in the second part of verse 7 that the testimony of the Lord is sure. It is sure, which means, you know, it's relevant for today. [14:10] Today, it is the rock upon which we build our lives. It is a sure footing for us. You realize, I don't have to make the Word of God relevant to your lives. [14:25] I don't have to come up with some catchy little phrase, you know, so you say, oh, that's cool. That's relevant. I don't have to do that. Why? Because the Bible already is sure. [14:36] The Bible already is that solid foundation that we can base our lives upon. It's timeless. I don't need to spice up the Word of God. As a matter of fact, some of you parents, you know, keep some of the Bible from your kids. [14:49] What I mean is, you know the Song of Solomon? You know, thank God for the King James Version in that, you know, it kind of keeps it a little bit, it's clean. [14:59] But if we really, you know what, and so I don't have to spice up God's Word. You know, there's murder in the Bible. You know, there's intrigue. There's murder. There's all kind of stuff in God's Word. [15:13] I don't have to spice it up because it's stuff that you and I live with every day. People hurt us. People stab us in the back sometimes. God's Word deals with all of that. [15:26] And so I don't have to spice it up. It's relevant. Then we see the Word of God is good. The statutes of the Lord are right. They're good. [15:39] You know, just step away from the TV for a while. Put down the novel and even the newspaper and allow God's Word to fill you up because it's good. [15:50] You know, I guarantee you it's better than what Hollywood can offer. It's good. It's right. It is everything that we need. [16:01] In other words, it's the best reading around. We go on. Then the Word of God is the commandment of the Lord is pure. [16:12] The Word is clear. It's pure. It is enlightening. It's radiant. It gives us light. [16:22] Do you realize we're not left in a fog of human opinion? God didn't leave us here to where, well, I don't know what to do. And I, well, the latest philosophy that I heard is this. [16:36] And that's what I'm going to do. God didn't leave us in that environment. He left us His Word specifically, how we're to live, how we're to act, how we're to treat people. And if someone hurts us, how do we respond to that so that relationships can be kept? [16:53] And so God's Word is clear. It's radiant. It's pure. As a matter of fact, what does Psalm also tell us? Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. [17:08] It tells us how to live. So it's clear. The Word of God is also holy. Look at verse 9. The fear of the Lord is clean. [17:20] It is free of error. It is moral. It is everything that we need to know and be provided with a pure life. [17:31] The fear of the Lord is clean. It's holy. And we stand in awe of God's Word. And at last, it's eternal. And then we see the second part of verse 9. [17:44] The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. The Word is true as opposed to relative. And are we not living in a culture that is fearful of absolutes? [18:00] We live in a world where people don't like truth. Well, that may be your truth, but that's not my truth. Right? Right? Brother Dennis and I were talking just yesterday afternoon about where they're living up on the left coast. [18:16] And you're not in California, but they're in a university community. And everything to them is relative. You know, you're dealing with academia. [18:26] You're dealing with those who are smarter than, you know, they think they're smarter than they are. Because God says, you know what? Who thinks like that? Fools. And so, in a world where truth is relative, God says, my truth is true. [18:45] There's only one truth. Now, we might interpret that truth in different ways, but God's Word is true as opposed to relative. It is absolute truth. [18:56] So, that's the revelation. As we look at God's Word, it is good. It's relevant. It's radiant. It gives us light for our lives. [19:09] It's the best reading around. We know that it's perfect. We know that it's complete. All of these things ought to incite us to worship. [19:23] And we're going to see that. So, that was a revelation. What is our response as we worship? And as we think about contemporary worship trends, often, you know, churches may say, well, you know what? [19:37] We need to add a water slide. Because that's going to bring them in. And I read an article this week. The church doesn't need any more coffee bars. The point of it was, it was a wife whose husband was dying a horrible death of cancer. [19:57] And she said, you know what we needed? We needed Jesus. We needed relationships. We needed to know the foundation, the bedrock of God's Word. Now, not saying having coffee is bad. [20:10] Some of you might think it is, but, you know, thank God for caffeine. You know, the greatest psychoactive drug known to man. But I guess what I'm saying is, really, at the end of the day, all we need is God. [20:24] And what He chooses to provide. And so our response to the Word of God, our response to truth, ought to be true worship. And there's so often, and I've even heard of preachers getting up without even having God's Word with them. [20:44] And quoting popular psychology, quoting, well, you know what, I think. [20:55] Every once in a while I say I think because there are some sections of God's Word where, you know, there are a few interpretations. There is only one right interpretation, but I have a finite mind. [21:07] And I will tell you when, you know what, this is my opinion. You and the Holy Spirit, you know, trust God to figure it out. But it is based on God's Word. [21:17] We look at the Word of God. So as we, whether we're singing, whether we are listening to God's Word, it needs to be the Word of God. So there are the effects of God's revelation. [21:30] As we see, starting with verse number 7, the first part of it, the law of the Lord, we saw, was perfect, was sufficient. What does it do? It converts the soul. It transforms us, revives, restores, refreshes, all these things that word means. [21:48] Do you realize that we cannot grow apart from the Word of God? We cannot grow into the image of Christ apart from the Word of God. And if we are not basing our lives on the Word of God, we're destined to live defeated Christian lives. [22:04] And we sung earlier about being victorious in Christ. How do we become victorious in Christ? Basing our lives upon His Word, allowing His Holy Spirit's power to flow through us as we trust Him. [22:19] So His Word changes us. Change. How many of you have ever tried to change? Okay. [22:31] Yeah, we try to do that every year, right? January 1st rolls around. And, well, you know what? I'm going to give up whatever. I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to read more. [22:41] I'm going to whatever. Never. But what typically happens, sometimes as January 2nd rolls around for some, but what happens in most gyms by February? [22:58] You can get to the elbow room. You can get to the machines. You can get to the weights a whole lot quicker because that all went out the door. So change, when we try to affect change on our own, it's usually not permanent. [23:13] But God's Word and His power and His Holy Spirit produces effective, everlasting change. It can do that for us. So God's Word can change us. [23:24] That's the effect of God's Word when we read it. That's why when you have a decision to make, where should you go? God's Word. [23:35] God, what do you say about it? What do you say, God? So it will change us. The second thing we see, second part of verse number 7 is, what does God's Word do? [23:45] Is God's Word makes us wise. We talked about being foolish earlier. Verse 7 says, A testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. You know what, sometimes I think, you know what, I'm as dumb as a rock. [23:59] I didn't learn from those last five times I made that same mistake, right? And so God's Word, when it talks about wisdom, it talks about using knowledge in life. [24:11] How do I use knowledge and put it into practice, put it into effect? That's wisdom. Wisdom is knowing how to rightly use knowledge. And so that's what the Word of God does for us. [24:23] It's not the Word of God plus Dr. Phil. It's not the Word of God plus that latest, greatest, awesome book from the Christian bookstore that is going to change your life. [24:34] It's God that's going to change your life. Now, your spouse might be trying to change your life, right? Parents, you might be trying to change your kid's life, but the important thing is we need to help them to see that God says. [24:49] God's Word and His Holy Spirit is what can change us. So God's Word makes us wise, wise enough for godly living. Let's go on. We'll see the next verse, that the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. [25:05] God's Word satisfies us. It produces joy to the heart. God's Word satisfies us. [25:16] For some of you who have tried reading God's Word and said, it is boring, you know what? Ask God. God, help me to understand what you're telling me. [25:30] God, please, you know, help me to see what you're saying and let it change me. And I guarantee you, God, if you really want God to do a work in your life, He will. [25:40] But the Bible says that the things of God are spiritually discerned, are spiritually understood. Meaning, if you want to understand God's Word, you need the Holy Spirit in your life. And how do we get that? [25:52] By trusting Jesus. By trusting what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary for forgiveness of sin, so that the blood of Jesus Christ will cover your sin, and that the righteousness of Jesus Christ can be applied to your account. [26:09] It's just like being in overdraft condition, and somebody comes along and says, look, I'm going to give you a million dollars and just deposits it in your account. That would be cool, right? And so that's what Jesus does with us. [26:20] We are morally bankrupt, apart from Christ. And Jesus comes and says, I will give you my righteousness. All you've got to do is trust me. All you've got to do is accept it. And that is how we receive God's Holy Spirit. [26:33] We're baptized into the body of Christ. He takes us into his family. And then the Holy Spirit becomes our teacher. The Holy Spirit becomes our guide. And in so doing, it satisfies us. [26:45] As a matter of fact, if you go down to verse 10, the psalmist says, more to be desired than gold. That's in the latter part. [26:57] But in the first part of verse 10, more to be desired than gold, yea, the much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. It's like the psalmist had been given a million dollars. [27:09] But what he has in his hand is the Word of God. Because that's the most important thing. It's our priority. As a matter of fact, as we think back in England years ago, when the Word of God was banned, and the Puritans said, you can take our houses, you can take our lands, you can take our churches, you can take our children, but you cannot have God's Word. [27:35] That's how important God's Word was to them. And it satisfies us. He says, it's sweeter than honey in the honeycomb. Now, for those of you who love honey, that's good. [27:48] But I think in terms of today, we might say, you know what? The Word of God is like a big porterhouse steak with a loaded baked potato on the side. It satisfies just like that. [27:59] Because when you've finished taking it in, eating it, and most of us eat more than once a day, right? Right? Man shall not live by bread alone. I live by that credo. And so, what we see is, it's not just by bread. [28:15] You know, I like bread. I go into Logan's and eating their yeast rolls. Those are awesome. We got some from the restaurant the other night when we came back after our, we ate for our anniversary. [28:29] But God's Word can satisfy us. It is sufficient for us. And so we see that it satisfies. Then we see in the next portion, what we see is, the Word of God, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. [28:48] God's Word enlightens us. In a world of darkness, God's Word gives light. His Word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. [29:01] The Word of God also, we see in the next verse, also awes us. We see that in the next verse. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring, forever. [29:18] The judgments of the Lord, but the fear of the Lord is clean. It's pure. The fear of the Lord is another way of saying God's Word. And we are in awe, or if we're in awe of the Word of God, it's going to make a difference. [29:36] It harkens back to Nehemiah chapter 8. And any of you have read Nehemiah chapter, I think it's chapter 8, where Ezra the scribe comes out with the book of the law, the first five books, which is what, of the Old Testament, which is what they had. [29:52] Ezra the scribe comes out, and Israel is gathered around, and Ezra the scribe simply opens the book. [30:02] What is the response of God's people? Nehemiah 8 says, the moment he opened the book, they stood up, they rose to their feet, they lifted their hands, and they shouted, Amen! [30:18] Amen! What if we had that response to the Word of God? What if it took more than just the strum of a chord? Ah! Ah! People got up and cried. [30:28] And music does affect us. But, what if we responded in such a fashion? Just by simply, when the preacher opens the Word, Amen! [30:43] God's Word! We're about ready to hear God's Word. What if we responded in our worship to God's Word the same way we might respond to a concert? To say, God, I want your Word. [30:55] That's what I want. That's what I need. You know, music might help me feel good and set the mood. But, it's empty without the Word. And so, God's Word is what we need. [31:06] It awes us. And then, the Word we see next makes us righteous. The judgments, verse 9, the judgments of the Lord are true and, what? Righteous all together. [31:18] The Word exposes sin. That's what God's Word does. Because if you look down, verse 12, who can understand his errors? Who can understand when we've sinned? [31:29] The psalmist says, cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. You know, there's some times we sin and we don't really realize that we're sinning. [31:41] Someone says, do you realize that, you know, you spoke a little bit hatefully to that person? You're like, no, I didn't think about it. Well, yeah, I guess I did. God, keep me from presumptuous sins. And, you know, the offerings that were brought in the Old Testament, you know, those covered, you know, presumptuous sins. [32:00] But then, he says, but also, he says, and I should be innocent of great transgression, but he says, also from the stuff that I know that I'm doing. [32:13] Keep me from that. So what God's Word does is God's Word helps us to be righteous because it exposes sin. It exposes sin, but what it does is, it exposes primarily our need for a Redeemer. [32:26] God's Word says, this is your problem. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one, not a single one of us. Did we have to teach our kids how to lie? [32:37] No, they do it naturally. Did we have to teach them to be selfish and not play well with others? No, we did that naturally when we were little. Why? [32:48] Because we were born with sin. And God's Word shows us how sinful we are, shows us we have a problem, and God says, God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross. [33:02] That's why He loves us, and that's what He did for us. But all we need to do is trust that Redeemer. Trust that Redeemer. God's Word is central to proper worship. [33:14] And as we wind this down, we ask ourselves the question, what happens when the Word of God is not central in our worship? What happens if, you know, we base our worship based on how we feel, and we leave and say, you know what, I just didn't feel like I worshiped today. [33:32] What if God's Word is not central? Well, that response, I believe, will be manufactured. Because what so many people do is they say, you know what, I believe God's like this. I believe God's okay with that. [33:45] Or, I believe that God wouldn't. Well, oftentimes, often what we do is we create God in our own image. But actually, we were the ones that were created in God's image. [34:00] And so God tells us what He thinks. God tells us what to believe. And so if we don't have God's Word as a foundation of our worship, then our worship will be made up, manufactured, and we'll be worshiping a God of our own making. [34:15] And the result will be it will be pleasing to ourselves. It will be pleasing to self. Wow, I felt like I worshiped today. Or, you know what, I followed all these rules and regulations, A, B, C, D, and God, I'm good because I didn't do any of these things that are not good. [34:32] Rather than allowing God's Holy Spirit and His Word to transform us internally, we're just focusing on the externals. Let God's Word change us. So our response might be manufactured. [34:43] It will be pleasing to ourselves. But what happens when the Word of God is central to our worship? Our response will be authentic. We might even say automatic. When we worship God as He is, as He has revealed Himself to us, and as we are engaging in a real, authentic relationship with Jesus Christ, with the God of the universe, with the Creator God, our response is going to be automatic. [35:07] We will say, God, all glory and praise and honor to you because you are so awesome. You are so pure. You are so holy. And we are sinful. And we'll have that Isaiah 6 experience. [35:19] Oh, woe is me. I'm sinful. I'm a man of unclean lips. God, you are so holy. Cleanse me because I need cleansing. It will be authentic. And what will the result be? [35:30] It will be pleasing to God. That's at the end of the day what I want. You know what? The worship team did awesome today. You know what? He got that core transition just right. So? [35:43] And you know what? She hit that high note. That was beautiful. Well, you know what? It might be that the way God's created us and He's given us these talents. And that is awesome. [35:54] But at the end of the day, it's God that's awesome. When we say, you know what? That singer, you know, that musician did well but God, aren't you great that you gave him that talent? [36:06] At the end of the day, let it be all about Him. And then we finish. The foundational question. Will we ignore the Word in our worship or will we let the Word ignite our worship? [36:21] Will we have that same Nehemiah chapter 8 experience when we see God's Word? Does your Bible collect dust during the week? When you open it up? Let's eat. [36:36] Multiple times a day, every day. Take the Word of God with you. It may be in book form. It may be a small, maybe a Gideon New Testament that you keep on your dash or in your purse or somewhere. [36:48] Everybody who has a smartphone has access to the Word of God as well. So we don't have the excuse. Well, I left it at home. So read it. Read your doctor's office. You know what? Don't read those three-year-old magazines. [37:02] Read God's Word because it is effective. It can change us. It can transform us. It's good. It's the best reading around. And I have some homework for you. Oh, I didn't come to church for homework. [37:15] I would want you to read Psalm 119 this week. We started in Psalm 19. You know, and I told you, we weren't going to put you through Psalm 119 this morning. [37:26] But read Psalm 119 and see how wonderful God is, His Word is, and our response to Him. God is holy. [37:37] God is pure. And we need, we need His Word in our worship. One of the non-negotiables. Let's pray. Dear Father, this morning, as we have gathered here together today to worship You, may we, may we base everything we do upon Your Word. [37:54] Every decision that we make, Lord God, may we ask You, God, what do You think? God, what have You told us in Your Word? So Father, help us to be a people of Your Word. [38:07] Not based upon the most recent fad, not based upon what we feel, we feel, but based upon the truth, the bedrock of Your Word. [38:18] Father, help us to give You honor and praise and glory for who You are. So Father, we thank You this morning for being a glorious, great, powerful God. [38:36] And Father, if there's anyone here this morning that doesn't know Jesus as their Savior, Lord, I pray this morning that they would simply trust You for their salvation. [38:51] To say, God, I know I'm a sinner and I know I'm not good. I'm not perfect. So Father, I'm trusting what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary in my place and I'm trusting the blood of Jesus to cleanse me of my sin and I'm trusting You to place me into Your family because of Jesus. [39:11] And on His authority. So Father, we thank You this morning. We praise Your name. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Let's all