Michael Youssef - Encouraging Words in Discouraging Times - Part 4
I think most of us can testify, I know I can, that the times of discouragement and the times of disappointment and the times when we get down in the dumps are the times when we have taken our eyes off of Jesus. I have. In fact, I remember back when I was 17 years old and brand new believer, I was very excited. Some of you heard me tell this, the man who discipled me, the first person, was an illiterate man, and I learned so much from that man. And he said something to me that still lives with me to this day. He said, "If you ever want to fall and stumble, keep your eyes on the church leaders". He said, "The bigger they are, the greater you'll fall".
We've been looking at these encouraging words in discouraging times from the Psalms. As I conclude this short series of messages, turn with me please to Psalm 119. I can see gasps and nervous laughter for those of you who know that Psalm 119 is 176 verses and is divided into 22 different sections. Each section is numbered not by numbers, one, two, three, but the Hebrew alphabet, and you see them there in your Bible, the Hebrew alphabet. For example, the letter A is in Hebrew is Aleph, and the B is Beth, and so on. Each of these 22 sections, they have different emphasis, but all of them have to do with the importance of the Word of God, the importance of the Word of God and giving us comfort in the times of need, in keeping us from sin, the importance of being thankful for the Word of God.
How important is the Word of God to us, to understand it and to value it and to cherish it and to live by it? Now that I've got some of you panicking and thinking I'm covering the whole Psalm, I want you to look at verse 9 to 16. In this section, Psalm 119, it places the emphasis on the protection of the Word of God, the protection of the Word of God. When the Word of God finds or places deep roots inside of us, when the Word of God finds a home inside of us, when the Word of God is constantly dwelling on the inside of us, we will be constantly encouraged, especially when we are surrounded by discouraging news, especially when we are constantly hearing discouraging news.
Beloved, it is not by accident that this second section about the protection of the Word of God and the importance of the Word of God dwelling in us is section Beth or B. Beth in Hebrew is the word "house," from which we get Bethlehem, the House of Bread, or Bethel, the House of God, and so on. The psalmist wanted us to know that whenever we are frazzled, whenever we are frustrated, whenever we are flustered, whenever we get discombobulated in this life, the only safe place to return to is where we have housed the Word of God.
The only true peace that you can experience, that I can experience, is when God's Word finds a home, a Beth, in our hearts. Why? Because only the Word of God can protect us from the enemy of our soul. Only the Word of God will strengthen us in times of temptations. Only the Word of God will sustain us when we are under pressure. Only the Word of God will heal our wounded spirit and bind our broken hearts. Only the Word of God can do all of that. And that is why the apostle Paul could say, "Let the Word of God dwell richly," where? In your hearts.
Hear me out, please, there is a world of difference between fighting the enemy on your own strength and fighting the enemy with God's strength and the Word of God, a world of difference. Listen, I can testify to you, I've done both, and hands down, hands down, every time I fight with my own strength, I fall flat on my face. That's why Psalm 119:9 to 16 is telling us two very important powers for living, two very important powers that God gives us, that the Word of God gives us. And here they are.
First, the Word of God has an indescribable power to overcome discouragement, verses 9 to 12. And the second, what the Word of God does and the power of the Word of God does, it gives us an incalculable... why I say incalculable, because your computer cannot compute that, incalculable preeminence in overcoming all of discouragements and temptations of life, verses 13 to 16. First, the indescribable power to overcome discouragement. Why am I calling it indescribable? Because I can tell you this, and all of you would testify to that, you cannot describe it to somebody else. You cannot say, "Here it is," and they say, "Yeah, I got it, great". No, you have to experience it personally.
What would that power do? Verse 9, it tells you. In verse 9 it tells you that this power cleanses us. In verse 10 it tells us that this power controls us. In verse 11 it tells us that this power corrects us. It cleanses, it controls us, and it corrects us. How can a young person, or old person, for that matter, keep his or her way pure? By the ability to use the power of the Word of God. How can you use it? By commitment to obeying it and not by your own grit. No, there are many times I said, "God, I love you and I want to obey you with all my heart, but I can't do it. You have to empower me to do it". And God will, that's one prayer he'll answer.
Now, beloved, when it comes to our character, to our conduct, and to our visceral response to our circumstances, no amount of good will, no amount of good intentions, no amount of good efforts will help us to stay pure. But the best borax that cleanses, the best ammonia that purifies, the best detergent that keeps us from all sorts of disappointments and temptations and discouragement is found where? What the Word of God does, it helps us put up a guard rail around our thoughts, around our thoughts, because that's where it starts, that's where everything begins, in the thoughts. That's where the problems start, everything begins in the thought. And that's where the attack begins, whether it's from the flesh or it's from the enemy of our soul, or both.
So, that's when the armor of God comes in and begins to put a guard around us. The Word of God then reminds us that God is sovereign, that God is in control, that God and God alone will have the last words, and that you and I are redeemed, blood-bought children of the living God, that we have a special place in the heart of God. The Word of God reminds us that we are not a feather in the wind, we're not a feather in the wind. No, no, we're not just nameless and faceless people, aimless people. No, but we are ambassadors of the King of kings. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and his Word.
Take his Word that he authored, and he imprints it on our hearts and in our minds. And the earlier we begin to fill our minds and thoughts and time with the Word of God, the greater the impact, not only throughout life, but later in life specifically. The earlier we begin to make our hearts and minds a home for the Word of God, the more powerful and more victorious we become. "With my whole heart I sought You; do not let me wander from Your Word". And he's praying that God would keep him under the control of the Word of God. Young or old, listen to me. Sometimes we think, especially young people, and some of you just can't wait to leave home and go and get some freedom. I did that when I was young.
I know some of you young people don't think I've ever been young, but trust me, I was. I mean, I could not wait to leave home and do my thing. And when I found myself literally 10,000 miles away from home, nobody knows me, I could have dropped dead and nobody would know it. I had all the freedom in the world. But because of my family has planted the good seeds of the Word of God, because mentors and Sunday school teachers have planted the good seeds of the Word of God in my heart, because they drilled the Word of God into my mind and my heart at an early age, so much so that when the so-called independence and freedom came, the good seed of the Word of God that they drilled in me kept me from evil. They kept me from evil.
When Daniel and his friend were taken captives in Babylon, it was a short distance, but they were a million miles away culturally, a million miles away spiritually, a million miles away in every sense of the word. But because the seeds of the Word of God, the good seed was planted in them, they were able to withstand the godless pressure of the king's college in Babylon. Why? Because they sought to treasure the Word of God in their hearts. And when our children see us placing guards in our thoughts and our actions, they will do the same. They will not be help, cannot help it but do the same.
The indescribable power of the Word of God not only cleanses, not only controls, but thirdly, it corrects. That's one thing we really, really don't like. I know, listen, I'm still made of flesh and blood. Correction or discipline, they're not very popular. Oh, they're not welcome, they're not very popular, not in our culture. That's not part of the Word of God that we like. That's why some preachers are saying, "Let's get unhitched from that part that you don't like". We don't want to be corrected. We don't want to be rebuked. We don't want to be instructed. We don't want to be disciplined.
But I can tell you, and God is my witness, the moments and the times when the Word of God rebuked me, when the Word of God corrected me, when the Word of God challenged me, these are the greatest part of my Christian walk. Oh, not at the time. I always level with you. Even the Bible said, the Scriptures said, "No discipline appears to be pleasant at the time," but when I look back, I say, "Oh, thank you, Lord". My goodness, the fruit and the result is indescribable.
So, the indescribable power of the Word of God cleanses us, it corrects us. The Word of God has incalculable preeminence in its power. That power, that preeminent power of the Word of God, lifts us up in the times of discouragement, in the times of depression, in the time when we feel everything is just going wrong. Look at verses 13 to 16. Listen to me, please. Our generation might know the price of everything, but they seem to be unable to understand the value of anything. But the value of the Word of God is incalculable. You cannot compute it on your best computer.
So I want to give you three exercises, okay? First exercise is in verse 13, speak the Word of God. Second exercise, verses 14 and 15, savor the Word of God. Thirdly, third exercise, verse 16, substantiate the Word of God in your life. The psalmist said, "With my lips, testify to you," that they get more out of their teaching when they speak it than their hearers. I know that experientially because I am absolutely sure that you're not getting as much benefit from my preaching as I'm getting it from in my preaching. Sometimes I wonder how blessed you are by hearing, not speaking.
I'm sure some of you are saying, "Michael, wait a minute, wait a minute, are we all going to be teachers now"? Yes, yes. How? By sharing what you learned from the Word of God with your family, with your friends, with anyone who would listen. By speaking and verbalizing what you have learned from the Word of God will make it sink deeper into your heart, into your life. By sharing how the Word of God guided you out of dark pit, the dark times, by verbalizing the Word of God, speaking the Word of God, how it lifted you out of discouragements in life, I do this all the time with my family. By speaking the Word of God you are strengthening and it's strengthening your inner person far more than just reading it.
The second exercise, savoring, treasuring. The word "savoring," if we look at verse 14, "I rejoice in following your statutes, as one rejoices in great riches". Okay, I'm going to give you permission to go into fantasy land, okay? Just please, humor me, and imagine that this afternoon you're going to get a phone call, and somebody says to you, "Your great uncle that you did not know existed had just left you $10,000,000. He died and left you in inheritance, $10,000,000". What do you do? You call your pastor.
Now, there's no such luck, all right? I understand. But look, let's be realistic. You're excited, you're elated, you're thrilled. You tell your family, you tell your best friends. I mean, you're celebrating, and rightly so. And the psalmist is saying, "That's how I feel about the Word of God. I treasure it". When you discover strength and power in the Word of God, it's like you've inherited a fortune, and be just as excited about the Word of God. You're so overwhelmed, and you can't wait to tell everybody.
So, speak it. What's the first one? Second? Thirdly, substantiate it in your life. How? Well, verse 16 gives us the answer. Thank God I don't have to come up with answers. By letting it be demonstrated in my life, by proving it in my life. Look, we don't operate or believe on the personal experience. Our authority is the Word of God, not the experience. But if the Word of God is real, it's going to be validated in your experience. Knowing what the Word of God said is good, but not good enough. Substantiating the Word of God honors God and blesses God, and it blesses you. Beloved, listen to me, I'm about to finish. Sometimes shortcuts and short-term gain can deprive us of a long-term blessing. Applying or substantiating the Word of God may delay your happiness, but it will bring you eternal joy.