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Well, thanks again for joining in today, both in the worship service as well as with Raising

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Your Voices with us.

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Today I'm going to tip the cards a little bit, tip the hand and be upfront.

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These are not all my words that you're about to hear.

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This is when Pastor Aaron let us know that he was continuing his studies, he was very

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gracious in leaving behind a few manuscripts that we could draw from if we needed them

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between pastors.

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I am thankful to say that with our new pastor starting next Sabbath, this is the first of

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the three manuscripts that we had to use, so we can still save the others for a rainy

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day.

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But this is, to give credit where due, this is adapted from a manuscript that Pastor Aaron

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left for us to use.

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But we're going to focus today on Psalm 119, but before we get into that, I like to consider

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myself a law-abiding citizen, sometimes even to a fault.

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Some people may consider me from time to time a bit of a goody-two-shoes, but I think we

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generally see ourselves, we're not out to game the system, we're not out to break the

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rules.

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At least that's kind of my perception, how about you?

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Kind of law-abiding citizens in here, I hope.

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In case, though, you plan on traveling to other states, you should be aware of some

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odd laws that you're bound to encounter along the way.

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And I don't think any of us wants to be found on the wrong side of the law on these, but

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they might be easy to get on the wrong side by accident.

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So starting with Nevada, using an x-ray machine to determine a person's shoe size could get

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you into trouble.

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I don't know why you would use an x-ray machine for that.

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In Arkansas, a pinball machine can't give away more than 25 free games to a player who

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keeps winning.

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You know how sometimes you can earn a free ball or whatever, but they're trying to curb

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gambling.

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I've not associated pinball machines and gambling, but somewhere along the way it became that

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for a player there.

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This one may be a little closer to home.

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Tennessee, you actually can't hunt, trap, or harm an albino deer intentionally.

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The penalty for that is a Class A misdemeanor, and of course you get a fine with that.

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So it's interesting to find one that specific.

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I'm not a hunter myself, but I would think something that special I'd want to leave alone,

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an albino deer.

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In Kentucky, every legislator, public officer, and lawyer must take an oath stating that

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they haven't fought a duel with deadly weapons.

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That one may be left on the law books from another time, right?

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It sounds like it.

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In Utah, this is one that's got a story behind it, I'm sure.

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No one can hurl a missile at a bus or a bus terminal, except, apparently there's exceptions,

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except peace officers and security personnel.

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If you're not in those positions and you find yourself possessing a missile and hurling

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it at a bus or a bus terminal, you're guilty of a third degree felony in Utah.

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Thank you Business Insider for these odd laws.

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So they seem silly.

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They seem silly, maybe a little amusing, outdated, or specific.

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Again, some of these must have an interesting story behind them, because you can tell some

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maybe a reactionary law.

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It happened and they said, we can't believe we have to tell people this, but let's put

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it into law so we can get it on the books.

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But unfortunately, not all laws are so silly or amusing.

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We can complain about tax laws and speed limits all we want, but we're actually blessed to

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live in a country where the laws aren't as strict and sometimes as mind-boggling as those.

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So take for example in North Korea, sexual relationships between non-married couples

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are prohibited.

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And there's in fact a dating police tasked to ensure that no such relationships are occurring.

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So they're actively monitoring.

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They also have a strict fashion code and that includes things like women aren't allowed

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to wear pants.

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Men need to cut their hair every 15 days.

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Sarah wouldn't mind that, I think.

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But moving on to Singapore, and I'm just picturing how sad it would be to have a fly go into

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your mouth.

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Smoking in public has a fine.

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So if you do have a fly, get in your mouth.

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Just deal with it, I guess.

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Smoking in public will also get you in serious trouble.

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And wearing the wrong dress, the wrong type of garb when going out, will actually land

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you in jail.

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It makes me wonder the specifics of that.

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I'll read up on that if I ever travel to Singapore, I'm sure.

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But also think too to Iran and Saudi Arabia.

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They have social laws that are mostly aimed at women, including things like women are

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not allowed to drive or be with a man who's not a relative or a spouse or go out in public

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in casual clothes.

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So these laws, we went from humorists to how is that a thing?

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Who put that into law and with what purpose?

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These laws can even seem oppressive and unjust, right?

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So in our culture, it can be difficult for many of us to imagine that these are implemented,

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let alone enforced.

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But you can hardly blame the people, you can hardly blame them, the people who want to

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leave those countries and experience a life with more choice, more liberty and less restriction.

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So I wonder though, when we think about God's law, what is our typical reaction?

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Do we recoil at the thought of restrictions placed on our life or maybe even look to escape?

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Do we stress over obedience so much that you might, as if you might perfect God's justification

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and sanctification in your life, yourself?

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Or maybe you look to God's law and think to yourself, that's cute, maybe a little outdated,

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that one's on the law books from a different time.

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It's a little amusing, isn't it?

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If any of these are your reaction to God's law, might not be having the experience God

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wants you to have.

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Let us turn into scripture and see what can be expected when we covenant with God to keep

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his law, when we experience God's law.

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So we're going to go to Psalm 119 for this.

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And if you know Psalm 119, you know, if we marathon through this, we should be able to

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get out in the next hour or so.

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So let's, okay, we're focusing on the intro, just verses one through eight.

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We're not doing all of 119, the longest chapter in the Bible.

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Just doing one through eight today.

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So it's the longest Psalm, and it's actually in the form of Torah or wisdom Psalm.

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That means that the predominant theme in this chapter revolves around the law of God and

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its wisdom, as well as the author's experiences when keeping that law.

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This Psalm was most likely intended as a prayer meant to direct the mind to God, for he's

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mentioned in all but two of the verses in how many verses is this?

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149, something like that.

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176 in the entire chapter, 176 verses.

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God has mentioned all but two of those.

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So Psalm 119, one through eight is the first prayer, the first statement, setting the tone

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for the rest of the Psalm.

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And the psalmist is telling us of experiences we can have also, that we can expect when

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we're walking in God's law.

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So a couple things, well, let's do a quick read through and then we'll step back for

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a moment.

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So starting with verse one, blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according

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to the law of the Lord.

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Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.

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They do nothing wrong, they walk in his ways.

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You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

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Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees.

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Then I wouldn't be put to shame when I consider your commands.

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I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

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I will obey your decrees.

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Do not utterly forsake me.

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So in these verses, we see a handful of words that require some attention.

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Let's say a vocab overview here.

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To understand exactly what the psalmist is referring to, we'll quickly define some of

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those terms.

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The law of the Lord, that's brought from the Hebrew Torah, which means law and teaching.

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God doesn't only give laws to follow, he endeavors to teach those who walk with him.

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His testimonies, testimonies, that speaks of those writings that testify or witness

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about God.

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Jesus, for example, in other passages, John 539 for this one, Jesus says, you search the

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scriptures and these are they that testify of me.

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The Bible is a faithful testimony about God and Jesus.

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Commandments or you might see other similar words, precepts, statutes, those are all synonyms

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for that which God has commanded.

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We think usually of the Ten Commandments, one of the first things we might think of

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when we think commandments or statutes.

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So maybe things, commandments about the clean or guidelines about clean and unclean foods

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and also the command to make disciples.

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Judgments speaks of God's means of deciding the eternal cases of every human being, you

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and me.

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God is judging a person's acceptance or rejection of the grace he offers through the merits

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of, is that ourselves, our merits?

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Or of who?

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Jesus Christ, yes.

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So he's judging our acceptance or rejection of the grace offered through Christ's merits.

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All of these elements describe unique attributes of this, of this God's word, the Bible, the

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psalmist is speaking of the entirety of the word of God in this passage.

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Because here I like to point out that the Bible in its fullness, some people may flinch

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when they hear Bible and maybe they're thinking rule book.

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Is this a rule book?

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Can you picture, I had a friend a couple years, now I'm getting older, 15 years ago, who went

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through police academy in Georgia and he showed me his textbook for that one so you can imagine

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it's just the official code book of Georgia.

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That's a thick book.

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I'm thankful.

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This is not just a rule book.

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So in youth Sabbath school we recently completed a study on Christian behavior.

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And you can imagine with countless scenarios of challenges of faith or behavior that we

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could possibly encounter or make decisions on in life, sometimes we might want to read

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out that speaks specifically to a decision we're making.

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That would be nice, right?

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Maybe not.

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Because imagine if we were trying to obey a thick code book, that could be if anything

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burdensome.

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Instead this book that we hold in our hands, it's got a list of ten commandments that can

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be summarized to two, great overarching fundamental operational guidance, how we approach life.

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Even by the one who knows the end from the beginning.

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And so he knows what's going to work out, what's going to best steer you towards him

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and steer all to his glory in the long run.

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And then of course we also have other principles we can draw from the Bible too.

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Things like Philippians 4-8, right?

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Whatever is true, whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, think about such

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things.

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When we consider how there are law books, there are code books out there, and you might

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get overwhelmed considering that, think about this book here that has relatively a short

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span of rules, commandments, and some guiding principles that we can apply to all sorts

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of things in life.

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And those statements in here are so compact, you might even call it efficient, because

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the rest of the pages are filled with the relationship that we can have with our Maker

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and our Creator and our Savior.

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So it's not a burdensome law when you take that step back and see what it could be, what

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it could have been.

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So let's read on to see where that relationship with God, the walk with God, meets our delight

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in his law.

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So referring back to verse 1, blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according

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to the law of the Lord.

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You'll be blessed, you'll be described as blameless, undefiled when you walk in the

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law of the Lord.

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It's not enough that we read and study God's word simply to gain knowledge or to win an

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argument, don't even the demons know, even the devil knows God's word.

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What are we doing with it?

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What are we doing with it?

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Don't begin and end your experience of God's law with theory and rhetoric.

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To walk in the law of the Lord is to be in agreement with God and his word.

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And that brings us a little bit to that Amos 3.3, our overarching text moments ago, can

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two walk together unless they be agreed.

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When you live your life in agreement with God and his word, you too can be described

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as undefiled, blameless, pure.

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For a person to be described in this manner must mean they've been cleansed of the stain

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of sin in their lives.

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Christ's righteousness must be present in their life.

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Walking in the law of the Lord is a response, a response to experiencing the justification

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of God in your life, not something done to gain or win or earn that justification.

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Turning back to verse two, blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all

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their heart.

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It's not natural for sinful men and women to seek after God with the whole heart, is

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it?

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There's often something holding us back from complete unreserved pursuit of him who

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wants to bless us.

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However, as we continue to experience God's word and we continue to choose to keep his

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testimonies, there will be a change playing out in our life.

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God will create in us a clean heart.

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He can create in you a clean heart, create in me a clean heart, just like the one David

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longed for.

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And the more you seek him, the stronger will be the desire to continue seeking him.

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You'll experience a change of heart as you experience God's law.

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What do we know God's law to be a reflection of?

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It's his character.

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It's his character written out.

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If you had to summarize love and isn't that what also what those when when Christ summarized

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the law, the Ten Commandments, he broke it down into two love the Lord your God, love

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your neighbor.

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It's all about love.

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It's reflecting Christ's character.

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That's what God's law is.

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Verse three, they do nothing wrong.

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They walk in his ways.

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Revision in the life of a person and a change of heart leads to walking in God's ways.

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His ways aren't naturally our ways.

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But the good news is he has only our best interest in mind.

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That best interest is a life free from sin.

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In order to determine how specifically wants you to walk, you must invest time in reading

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the Bible.

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That's kind of our way now of being able to walk side by side with him.

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It's in these writings that God is most clearly outlined his way for you and for me.

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As we walk according to the law of the Lord, as we keep his testimonies, he changes our

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heart to one that continually seeks after him.

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You'll be walking in agreement with his ways as we read and study the Bible, as we experience

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God's word in our life, as we walk in agreement with him, those things that fall under transgression

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or iniquity, they drown out.

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They tend to fall away.

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We're not as attracted to those anymore.

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Also, he will keep us from falling.

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He'll bless us and we'll experience that sanctification worked out in our life.

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That kind of reminds me, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here.

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It kind of reminds me of the true vine.

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I'm the vine, you are the branches.

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As we abide in him, we can bear much good fruit.

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In verse four, you've laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

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There's a bit of a temptation in our culture today to react to God's commands as if they

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were suggestions or maybe they're cute and amusing or for a different day and age, a

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different time.

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You might have even heard some people say, come on, did this think forward to the issues

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we're dealing with today?

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Again, I refer back to those principles that we have, those things that the word is filled

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with.

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It's not old fashioned.

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There may also be temptation in today's culture to view his commands as relative and not absolute,

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but God's word is clear.

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He commanded, let's keep the law and let's keep all of it.

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When he commands you to have no other gods before him, that's anything that takes preeminence

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over him.

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That can be maybe even friends, a social life in itself, not a bad thing, right?

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We were made social creatures, but it can become an idol.

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People can become an idol, entertainment, self.

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When he commands that his very name is to be reverenced as holy, don't profane it with

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epithets or use some common language or oaths.

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Watch those OMGs, so to speak.

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Another example, when God commands don't murder, that's not exclusive to serial killers or

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shootings.

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What about the unborn or what about the online character assassinations?

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These things that we see all too often, people carrying out when they're behind the screen

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and a keyboard and don't have to deal with that human presence and the impact, seeing

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live the impact on the person that they're spewing hate about.

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When God commands also, when God commands make disciples, he was not just speaking to

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clergy, but to everyone who professes to be a disciple of his.

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Actually I want to add to that an interesting way, the Sabbath school quarterly author for

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this quarter put it in a video Sabbath school guide.

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It's not the great suggestion.

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It's the great commission.

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Do this.

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Go make disciples.

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And it's not just, it's not just clergy.

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It's to everyone who's a disciple of his.

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In addition, we're called to keep these precepts diligently.

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There's not time for that Leo to see in response to God's word anymore.

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It's not, we don't have time.

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Time is running out for Luke warmness.

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Jesus is coming back soon and God knows it is to your benefit to keep his word in the

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here and now.

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He knows you'll have a blessed experience as you keep those commands.

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He's pleased when you and I seek after him, desire to walk with him, be in agreement and

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walk in his way.

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And so he commands what he knows is best for you and me.

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So I wonder, have, have you ever seen the change in a person's life who walks in God's

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law or have you experienced it?

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Have you witnessed this in others as they choose to seek after God with their whole

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heart and diligently keep his word?

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Now the Psalmist speaks to this with verse five.

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He shows what the experiences of someone who realizes God's blessings for those who respond

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to his command.

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Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees.

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This verse echoes also my desire when I realized the experiences that I could have in response

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to God's word.

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Sometimes when you see in others, God's grace, maybe their change in heart, their change

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in character, their attitude, that process of sanctification as they walk closer and

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closer with God, it's positively contagious, isn't it?

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This is the best kind of contagion out there, kind of that I'll have what they're having.

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What is it that you have different?

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How can I get that peace that surpasses understanding?

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In seeking that, it motivates my personal devotions.

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And so that kind of sparks too then, purposing for myself to see what God had to say in his

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word, not just hear about it from clergy member or a Sabbath school teacher, but get into

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this myself.

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Spending more time in God's word does tend to make you realize that God's laws, his teachings,

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his commandments, and yes, judgments, they're all for our good.

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They're all for my good.

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They're all for your good.

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So we spend more time in God's word.

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You can learn more of Christ, his character, his life, and let's not forget the ministry

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on our behalf.

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So that can certainly bring us to a place of saying as David does, as the psalmist does,

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oh, that my ways were directed to keep your statutes.

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So have you had the same experience in your life?

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If not, you can, okay?

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You're not stuck.

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You can experience this and the experience of walking with God in his way will be yours

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to claim.

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Moving on to verse six, the psalmist continues detailing what can be experienced when God

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answers the prayer, then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.

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When God in answer to the prayer of that verse, in verse five, it directs your way so you'll

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be able to look at his divine precepts and not be ashamed anymore.

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We're referred to God's word sometimes as a mirror, right?

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And sometimes when we get close up to that mirror and we can see, yeah, I need to get

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the cowlick down, but also, where'd that wrinkle come from?

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Oh boy, I did forget to shave.

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But also, yeah, we might see those imperfections.

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We see ourselves for who we are.

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And sometimes that might not be that image of God we're trying to reflect.

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Knowledge is power though, isn't it?

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Again, we're not stuck, but first you gotta realize where you're at.

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So seeing that mirror, it really helps.

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We can see that mirror and instead of letting Satan use his tactics of shame to distance

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us from God, we can use that to run to God, recognizing where we're at.

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Lord, I'm not where I need to be.

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Let me get closer to you.

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Unfortunately, each one of us here has that sin.

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You know the one.

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Maybe it's not theft or idolatry or murder or dishonoring your parents.

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Maybe it's in pure language.

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Maybe you're struggling with addiction.

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Maybe sexual misconduct.

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You know for you what brings shame.

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You know for you when you look in that mirror of God's word, what makes you flinch.

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Again, don't let the deceiver use that against you.

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Instead get closer to God and seek to abide in him.

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God has given assurance in his word, in this Psalm, that when you walk in agreement with

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him and his law, you're not condemned.

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You're not condemned to eternal defilement and shame.

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You can experience a cleansing of that guilt and shame as you experience the law of God.

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Then you can look at his commandments and recognize just how far he's brought you.

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Kind of a, let's say a measuring stick of sorts for yourself.

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Moving on to verse seven, I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous

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laws.

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There's no need to fear the judgment of God.

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When you experience his blessings in your life as a result of turning to him in his

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word, a new light will shine on his means of passing judgment on the earth.

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Remember a few steps back I mentioned the ministry he's doing on our behalf.

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Well part of that is he's our lawyer.

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In judgment he's our lawyer.

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I kind of want that, you know, usually if somebody's in the staring down litigation,

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they want to hire the best lawyer money can buy, right?

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You and I, we have an accuser, but we have also the best lawyer.

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So if you'll take him on as your lawyer, nothing to fear in the judgment.

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And as you study his word, as you study God's law, he will teach you of his desire to do

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all he can to save those who come to him.

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You'll also learn of his hatred of sin and the corruption of death that's brought to

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creation.

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He doesn't take pleasure in the sin sick world, all the effects that sin has brought on us.

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God is also determining who's chosen other gods before him and who sought in contrast

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with that also those who have sought him with their whole heart.

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So remember in verse two we read that those who keep his testimonies experience a change

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of heart and they seek him without holding back this change of heart is divine and defined

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here in verse seven as upright.

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That's to say a heart that is experienced to change from God is a heart reflecting the

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character of God.

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And also what do we what do we have sometimes associated with that upright?

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When somebody is feeling a little rough or just maybe things are humdrum, how are we

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going to carry ourselves sometimes?

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I'm terrible at it myself actually.

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I kind of slouch.

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I kind of maybe carry myself a little a little self-consciously or things like that.

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But when we're upright, there's that confidence.

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We can move forward with confidence as we reflect his character.

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And this description tells of a person who has experienced God in his word to the point

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that he or she experiences a change also in character.

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So if these verses are telling of experiences you and I can expect as we walk in the law

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of the Lord is it then it doesn't it follow we can be blessed and we can be justified.

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Will desire to seek after God.

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Sanctification can be a reality.

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God will direct our ways.

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Guilt and shame a memory.

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Sanctification a reality.

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God will direct your ways.

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Will reflect God's character and of a brightness.

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When you experience all that has been detailed in these verses, how can we respond in any

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way other than praising him with our whole being.

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So with that, this has a neat close verse eight ending the introduction of Psalm 119

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with covenant language.

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I will a lot of covenants that we read in God's word.

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I will.

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I will.

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What is this person going to do?

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What are they what are they covenanting to do?

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I will obey your decrees.

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Do not utterly forsake me.

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So one and the other one and the other two way contract so to speak to a covenant as

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the author has prayerfully considered all we've read in verses one through seven.

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He now pledges as himself to keep God's statutes.

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A desire to experience all that has been detailed in those lines before and shows us his that's

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been awakened and the psalmist knows that it's within God's word that this desire can

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be satisfied and will be satisfied.

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So with this commitment a request is made.

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Lord don't forsake me utterly.

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Here we see our final experience in this passage.

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Once someone experiences what walking with God is like, you kind of don't want to go

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a different way.

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You and I know what God what what we're like without God in our lives.

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Right.

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I know I can be a bit of a mess.

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Confession time not perfect.

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But it's not just not perfect.

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Sometimes a mess.

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But I also know what my life is like when God is walking with me and me with him when

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I walk in his way.

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So when we've tasted and seen that he is good, we don't want to be separated from that again

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from him again.

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So do you have the same desire when you approach God's word when you approach this is living

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word that still speaks to us today.

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Do we experience the blessings described here?

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Would you like to?

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I hope so.

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I would like to choose to enter this covenant with God.

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Choose today to live according to his word.

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He has preserved these through these teachings, these testimonies and commands and judgments

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through the ages in the Bible for you and me to still draw from today.

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So covenant to live according to what we read.

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Seek after him daily through personal devotions, reading scripture and going to him in prayer.

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Ask that he direct your life and submit to that guidance.

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By faith, except also that he won't forsake you.

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Remember that covenant at the end.

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He will not forsake you.

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God has given you the assurance of his blessing.

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He's eager to fulfill that covenant and he's waiting for you to walk with him.

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Is it your desire to enter that covenant with God?

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Is it your desire to have these experiences in your life as you walk with him and you

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walk in his law?

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As I pray, I invite us all to covenant with God that we desire to keep his statutes and

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claim his promise not to forsake us.

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Let us pray.

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Heavenly Father, thank you that instead of just an exhaustive comprehensive list of do's

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and don'ts, we have those commands, we have those guidelines, but we have a book largely

469
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:13,080
relationship based, largely about what you've done for us and how we can be reconciled to

470
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,240
you.

471
00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:22,920
Please let us carry that with us as we go into life after this moment.

472
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:29,920
Working with confidence, we can tread forward in uprightness, in confidence, knowing that

473
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:36,760
you have the best in store for us, knowing that your ways are right and true and noble

474
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:37,760
and admirable.

475
00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:42,240
That we can dwell on these things.

476
00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:52,760
Please bless us too as we part and have our travels after and enjoy fellowship together

477
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:56,280
in our meal to come after this.

478
00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:23,280
In Jesus' holy name we pray, amen.