2. Remember the way God's mercies came to Abraham when he was a man in Ur of the Chaldees.

b. The light of God's Word burst in on his soul; he heard God's voice speaking to him.

c. He recognized that Word for what it was, the revelation of the true and living God, speaking with authority and majesty, and he responded at once.

d. He was rescued forever from the darkness of Babylonian religion to become the father of all those who believe.

b. There he experienced the horrors-and pangs of a lost eternity-to which he had been only too willing to consign the people of Nineveh.

c. As that mighty fish sounded the depths of the sea, Jonah's heart sank with it.

d. Then God's Word came to him, rescuing him from despair.

e. He tells how he prayed using quote after quote from the psalms.

f. God's Word set his soul free, and brought him to the place where he pledged himself to obey God's Word and resulted in a change in his hopeless circumstances.

2. Our assurance of salvation rests on the Word of God, the work of Christ, and the witness of the Spirit.

3. The psalmist is thankful for the Word of God which tells him about the mercies of God and the salvation He provides.

2. As has been said, young people entering college often are forced to make a choice between God and man.

3. Brilliant minds confront them, subtle philosophies entangle them, clever arguments will seduce them unless they take a stand immediately on the Word of God.

2. The moment she did that He could tell her anything.

3. If the attack does not come from without, it will come from within our minds.

4. The battleground is not in the body, it is in our minds.

5. The story is told of a young boy who had been recently been saved.

b. In bed that night, however, doubts came upon him.

c. Was it really true? Had anything really happened?

d. He didn't feel any different… perhaps he really wasn't saved after all.

e. He remembered hearing the story of how Satan had tempted Jesus in the wilderness.

f. He had been told that Satan loved darkness and the darkest place in the room that night was under the bed.

g. So he opened his Bible to John 3:16, put his finger on the verse, stuck the Bible under the bed, and said, "Here! Read it for yourself."

2. There is power, mighty power, in God's Word.

3. We don't have to defend the Bible; it is able to defend itself.

2. The foe is quick to pounce on such things.

3. The skeptic picks out some grave injustice done to a believer and says, "There! Explain that."

4. Many things in life seem to nullify the truth of the Bible, at least to the satisfaction of the unbeliever.

2. The ultimate truth of God's Word may sometimes be seen at once, sometimes not for centuries.

3. Note 2 Peter 3:3-9

4. As faithful believers, we should not be troubled by seeming delays.

5. We know that God's Word is true no matter what immediate circumstances say.

6. The psalmist longed that circumstances would vindicate the truth of God's Word.

7. One day they will… There is a time element as well as a trust element in God's promises.

B. We must bring our life into line with the eternal truths of Scripture, not the shifting sands of society or public opinion.

C. We need to link ourselves to the permanence of God's Word.

2. "You can't do this, can't do that, can't go here, can't go there."

3. To the unsaved man, it seems like a life filled with restrictions.

4. But the psalmist saw God's law as the perfect law of liberty.

5. It did not mean he could do whatever he wanted; it meant he could do whatever God willed.

6. And that, he says, is true freedom.

2. Jesus said, "He that committeth sin is the slave of sin."

3. How many millions of people are slaves to drugs and drink, to tobacco, to bad temper, to pride, to evil passions.

2. Adam bought into it as well, and they soon found that the freedom they had been promised wasn't freedom at all.

3. Jesus declared that the truth is what sets us free!

4. Only when we know and obey the truth will we experience true liberty.

B. We have nothing to be ashamed of in God's Word.

2. It has commanded the allegiance of some of the world's finest thinkers.

3. We stand alongside some of the greatest human beings who ever lived.

4. We need not be ashamed of this Book.

5. It has the answers to all the questions of mankind.

B. We find pleasure in so many other things, but we tend to view the Word of God as something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

C. But if we can begin to learn the value of the Word of God to us and to this world, our attitude will change.

2. It was given on a mountain peak.

3. Because it expresses God's holiness, its standards are those of perfection.

4. God does not lower His standards, He does not compromise with sin, He does not accommodate Himself to our low level of behavior.

5. He makes us reach up. He makes us lift up our hands to His commandments. 6. That means we have to lift up our hearts as well.

2. We are still sinners who fall short of God's glory.

3. That is why He has reached down.