Psalm 119:129

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GOOD MORNING! We examine one verse in the great Psalm 119: "Thy testimonies are wonderful."[1] This is the enthusiastic praise that is the inspired word of God, written for our learning. This same praise has been echoed from soul to soul through the long centuries, for the wonder of the Bible grows on us as experience is enlarged.

The more deeply we search it, the more we feel that the Bible is not merely a book, but THE BOOK!

One of the first things about the Bible which evokes our wonder is the very fact of its existence; the way in which the Bible grew, little by little, part by part, century after century. The last part of the Old Testament was written nearly five hundred years before the one who wrote the final part New Testament was even born!

The perfection and the completeness of the Bible is not due to any conscious cooperation of the writers with each other, but to the direction of Him by whom they wrote.

The very existence of the Bible is evidence that it is not of men. The Holy Bible is the gift of the LIVING GOD. "Thy testimonies are wonderful."

Another marvel: The Bible is one book, yet it is made up of many books. The Saviour said, "The scripture cannot be broken." [2]

Many have tried, but none have succeeded in the turning up a single error. The integrity of the Bible is constantly attacked, but it has not lost one line of its sacred pages.

Again, it is a wonder that this Bible is alive and well today. Our libraries are filled with forgotten books, not so the Bible. Think of this: What book has had a chance of being circulated widely among a people from which it did not originate? The Bible has leaped over the barriers of time, and geography, and society, and language, and is still the most widely circulated book among all the peoples of this earth. "Thy testimonies are wonderful."

Another marvel of the Bible is the interest that is given to it. This is the only book read by all nations and peoples and languages and tongues. The Bible is the book read by the little child and by the old man; the Bible is read with profound interest by the simple, the unlettered, and by the scholar, for, like the holy love of God, the Bible: "is so high you can't get over it, so deep you can't get under it, so wide you can't get round it,"[3] so you just lovingly turn its pages in personal interest. "Thy testimonies are wonderful."

Do not say that you can read the Bible as you do any other book. No! When you come to the Bible you must come with awe and reverence. Listen with your soul, and give honest heed as you read; the living God is speaking!

This holy Bible is God's word to your heart. This holy Bible is the living word of the living God. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."[4]

The Bible is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, inexpressible in value, infinite in scope, divine in authorship, human in penmanship, regenerative in power; infallible in authority, personal in application, and, as the "scripture of truth" declares, is the breath of God in its totality.

Once more, the Bible has stood age after age of terrible and determined persecution. Men have tried to burn the Bible out of existence; discredit it with false manuscripts; legislate against its place in the lives of the people; change its text with corrupt inserts and omissions of the text; and mock it in the presence of the youth who would love it. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."[5] "Thy testimonies are wonderful."

No one can come honestly, humbly, and in faith to the Bible without seeing himself as he is. But the greatness and the wonder of the Bible is not chiefly in its indestructibility, nor in its rigid truthfulness man-ward, regarding sin and its awful consequences. The greatness of the Bible is in its sure answer to man's most serious question: " How can I, a sinner, indelibly stained with sin; be made right in the sight of a holy and just God?" Rest assured that the full answer is continually given on the pages of this holy Bible.

A simple heathen, in an official position that had suddenly become impossible, asked the missionary apostle and his companion, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The answer came, clear and true, and is written for our sake: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." [6]

The Bible tells us of the Saviour that God has given to us. The Bible tells us that to believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST is to be accepted with God. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."[7]

"Holy Bible, Book divine,
Precious treasure, thou art mine."[8]

"Thy testimonies are wonderful."

AMEN.

[1] Psalm 119:129
[2] John 10:35
[3] Unknown writer
[4] 2 Peter 1:19-20
[5] 1 Peter 1:24-25
[6] Acts 16:30-34
[7] John 3:36
[8] From "Holy Bible, Book Divine" by John Burton

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