session 4 why should i trust the bible? - clover sitesstorage.cloversites.com ›...

session 4

why shouLD i trust the bibLe?

122 S E S S I O N 4 © 2013 LifeWay© 2013 LifeWay

The PointThe only safe place to build your life is on God’s Word.

The Bible Meets LifeMany people acknowledge the value of the Bible, but affirming its value does

not mean they build their lives on it … or that they even find it reliable. Skeptics

want to dismiss Christianity, saying it is based on a flawed document. If the Bible

is flawed, then how can we trust it for matters of eternal significance? But the

Bible continually shows us its trustworthiness and reliability, and we can trust it

in all matters.

The PassagePsalm 119:1-8,137-144

The SettingPsalm 119 is not only the longest psalm, but it is longer than 30 entire books in

the Bible. It is comprised of 22 stanzas, and each stanza begins with a successive

letter of the Hebrew alphabet. What’s most important is what this acrostic psalm

does: it lifts up the wonders and perfections of God’s Word. The psalm points us

to the benefits we receive as we rely on the truths of Scripture.

B i B l e S t u d i e S f o r l i f e 123© 2013 LifeWay© 2013 LifeWay

Psalm 119:1-8,137-144 (HCSB)

1 how happy are those whose way is blameless, who live

according to the LORD’s instruction! 2 happy are those who keep

his decrees and seek him with all their heart. 3 they do nothing

wrong; they follow his ways. 4 you have commanded that your

precepts be diligently kept. 5 if only my ways were committed

to keeping your statutes! 6 then i would not be ashamed when i

think about all your commands. 7 i will praise you with a sincere

heart when i learn your righteous judgments. 8 i will keep your

statutes; never abandon me.

137 you are righteous, LORD, and your judgments are just. 138 the

decrees you issue are righteous and altogether trustworthy.

139 my anger overwhelms me because my foes forget your

words. 140 your word is completely pure, and your servant

loves it. 141 i am insignificant and despised, but i do not

forget your precepts. 142 your righteousness is an everlasting

righteousness, and your instruction is true. 143 trouble and

distress have overtaken me, but your commands are my delight.

144 your decrees are righteous forever. Give me understanding,

and i will live.

Key Words

judgments (v. 137)—Verdict in a court of law. Here it refers to God’s decisions about right and wrong.

decrees (v. 138)—Covenant stipulations, often translated “testimony.” God’s decrees bear testimony to what is true.

precepts (v. 141)—A precept is a properly appointed principle, a mandate, a guideline for covenant living.

instruction (v. 142)—Also translated Torah, refers to a statute, the Ten Commandments, and even the first five books of the Bible.

What does the Bible say?

12 4 S E S S I O N 4 © 2013 LifeWay© 2013 LifeWay

Notes

GEt iNto thE StuDYDISCUSS: Ask the opening question

on page 103 of the Personal Study Guide

(PSG): “What item from your child-

hood still works today?”

GUIDE: In response to what you just

said, invite group members to respond to

The Point at the top of “The Bible Meets

Life” section on page 104 of the PSG:

”The only safe place to build your

life is on God’s Word.”

TRANSITION: We’re going to look at several things that affirm the Bible’s reliability.

PRAY: Ask God for wisdom in understanding the reliability of the Bible.

5 minutes

B i B l e S t u d i e S f o r l i f e 125

thE PoiNt The only safe place to build your life is on God’s Word.

© 2013 LifeWay© 2013 LifeWay

Notes

Psalm 119:137-144

137 You are righteous, LORD, and Your judgments are just. 138 The decrees You

issue are righteous and altogether trustworthy. 139 My anger overwhelms

me because my foes forget Your words. 140 Your word is completely pure, and

Your servant loves it. 141 I am insignificant and despised, but I do not forget

Your precepts. 142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and

Your instruction is true. 143 Trouble and distress have overtaken me, but Your

commands are my delight. 144 Your decrees are righteous forever. Give me

understanding, and I will live.

READ: Call on a volunteer to read Psalm 119:137-144.

GUIDE: Use the key words on page 105 of the PSG to let each description of God’s

words highlight the value of God’s words.

DISCUSS: Question #2 on page 106 of the PSG: “What are some reasons

people question the reliability of the Bible?”

GUIDE: Refer to the “Psalm 119:137-144” section on pages 106-107 of the PSG to

highlight arguments for the reliability of the Bible. The categories are archaeology,

the multitude of manuscripts, and the impact on humanity.

StuDY thE BiBLE10 minutes


Psalm 119:137-144 Commentary

Psalm 119 extols the virtues and practical value of the Word of God. It is a love poem about the Law of

God. The psalmist began each stanza with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet: Aleph, Beth, Gimel, and so

forth. He then arranged each verse of each stanza to begin with that stanza’s particular letter. Psalm 119

is the longest poem in the Psalms. It portrays God’s Word as the determining element in all realms of life.

The psalm appears to have been written in a time of persecution, perhaps during a period when idol

worshipers were in charge and the worshipers of Yahweh were on the run (vv. 8, 139, 141, 143, 153-154).

In spite of his pain, the psalmist esteems the Law of God “as his most precious treasure (vv. 72, 127),

as the source of his joy and delight (vv. 16, 24, 47, 70 and often), as the goal of his knowledge and the

standard of his conduct in life (vv. 12, 26, 64, 68), and as the object of his love (v. 47).” 1

People often say, “You can’t trust the Bible. It has been changed so many times over the years. And

it is disproved by science.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Of all the ancient manuscripts

considered trustworthy by scholars, the Bible is the best attested and most reliable work in existence

today. Biblical principles guided our Founding Fathers as they created a great and enduring form of

government. Lives built upon the principles in Scripture are like sturdy steel ships that safely sail the

stormy seas of life. To a person skeptical of God’s Word, one could reply, “Try it; you’ll like it.”

How can we determine right from wrong in our pluralistic culture where different religions and truth

systems muddy the waters and the prevailing opinion is that there are no absolute standards of right and

wrong? The psalmist answered: You are righteous, Lord. Righteous simply means morally right, correct,

or proper. Old movies referred to righteous shootings by which they meant that the shootings were done

“by the book.” Everything God does is by the Book, for He wrote the Book. In fact, one of the unifying

themes of the Bible is that God is the standard of rightness in the universe. Therefore, His judgments and

decrees are altogether trustworthy. We can build our lives upon them, for they are right.

The psalm writer apparently lived in a time much like ours, when people had forgotten God’s words.

When God’s people ignored their God to follow the gods of the land, things got uglier than a city

dump on a muggy summer day. He may have lived at a time when the worship of Baal led to temple

prostitution, and the worship of Molech led to child sacrifice, all so that these false gods would make

the worshipers successful. The psalmist refused to fit in or follow the crowd; instead, in anger he cried,

Your word is completely pure, and Your servant loves it.

1. Artur weiser, The Psalms: A Commentary, trans. herbert hartwell (philadelphia: the westminster press, 1962), 740.




Notes

Psalm 119:137-144 (Continued)

GUIDE: Focus now on the very nature of the Bible itself. Explain from page 107

of the PSG that “Psalm 119:137-144 thunders forth the truth that God’s Word is

righteous, pure, and true.” Let group members detail each of these characteristics

of God and His Word.

DISCUSS: Question #3 on page 107 of the PSG: “What do these verses

teach us about God and His Word?”

DO: To detail The Point that “The only safe place to build your life is on

God’s Word,” guide the group to complete the activity on page 108 of the PSG.

Reliable Direction

What is a source of advice people look to on these topics?

Work/Career ____________________________________________________

Marriage ______________________________________________________

Finances ______________________________________________________

Raising Kids ____________________________________________________

Cooking _______________________________________________________

Other _________________________________________________________

How the Bible has proven reliable to me: ______________________________

_____________________________________________________________

ENHANCEMENT: Use Pack Item 6: “Honest to God” to connect today’s

question, “Why Should I Trust the Bible?” to others in this study. Call for ideas on

how other questions relate to this one.

TRANSITION: Next we’ll consider what happens to us when we follow God’s Word


12 8 S E S S I O N 4 © 2013 LifeWay© 2013 LifeWay

Psalm 119:137-144 Commentary (Continued)

In a society sold out to idols, the psalmist felt insignificant and despised. But he refused to reject

God’s ways. Why? God’s righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Since God is eternally

right, then His instructions are eternally true. God’s principles of right and wrong can always be trusted

in any age (Matt. 5:17-18). Like a beaver dam blocks the flow of a mountain stream, by word and by deed

we need to place our lives squarely in the middle of the stream of culture and obey God.

God’s people who live by God’s laws have always had trouble in our godless world. The writer of Psalm

119 was no exception. Elijah the prophet gave us a snapshot of the kind of trouble idol worshipers can

make for God’s people. He cried out to God, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts, but

the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the

sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life” (1 Kings 19:10).

Galloping quickly behind trouble was distress. What did he do? The psalmist clung to God’s commands,

and they became his delight. Do not miss this. God’s Word, which had made him different from the

world, proved to be a source of joy.

How could God’s Word produce joy in the midst of persecution? First, in God’s Word we hear God’s voice

(Ps. 107:20; 2 Tim. 3:16). Secondly, God’s decrees are righteous forever. When God’s people know

God’s Word, they know the right answers. Do you remember in school when you knew the right answer?

The writer’s prayer (v. 144) is interesting and reveals an important truth about walking with God. Give

me understanding, and I will live, he prayed. He did not pray, “After I have studied Your Word and

figured it out, then I will live.” Proverbs 2:6 reminds us that “the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth

come knowledge and understanding.” And Paul said, “Now God has revealed these things to us by the

Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. … We also speak these things, not in

words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10,13).

It is one thing to learn facts and backgrounds about the Word of God; it is quite another to understand

what God is saying to His people. Over the years I have bumped into unbelievers who had read the Bible

and used it to try to disprove Christianity. I have also run into many more believers who could quote the

Word of God with their lips but who denied the Word of God with their untransformed, worldly lives.

Therefore, whenever a believer opens the Bible, whether to read it or to study it, we should join the

writer of Psalm 119 in praying, Give me understanding, God, and I will live.




Notes

TIP: Consider a building theme as you study this passage: bricks or other stable building materials can illustrate the reliability of living the Bible.

Psalm 119:1-8

1 How happy are those whose way is blameless, who live according to the

LORD’S instruction! 2 Happy are those who keep His decrees and seek Him

with all their heart. 3 They do nothing wrong; they follow His ways. 4 You

have commanded that Your precepts be diligently kept. 5 If only my ways

were committed to keeping Your statutes! 6 Then I would not be ashamed

when I think about all Your commands. 7 I will praise You with a sincere heart

when I learn Your righteous judgments. 8 I will keep Your statutes; never

abandon me.

READ: Call on a volunteer to read Psalm 119:1-8.

SAY: “The psalmist was determined not just to know God’s Word, but to order his

life by it.”

GUIDE: Direct the group to recall five descriptors of Gods’ Word from Psalm

119:137-144: judgments (v. 137), decrees (v. 138, 144), precepts (v. 141),

instruction (v. 142), commands (v. 143). Now send the group to 119:1-8 for

even more descriptions. Invite group members to tell why certain descriptions are

meaningful to them.

DISCUSS: Question #4 on page 109 of the PSG: “When have you seen the

Bible’s instruction work?”

DISCUSS: Question #5 on page 109 of the PSG: “Why do we follow God’s

Word?” Let this question review the entire passage and commentary.

SUMMARIZE: How do we grow in obedience and avoid what is wrong? The

answer is to learn to walk—to live—in the ways of the Lord. This requires intense

and diligent effort on our part. This effort is not an attempt to earn favor with God

but rather, it is a response to His gracious revelation of Himself.

TRANSITION: Because the only safe place to build our lives is on God’s Word,

let’s identify some ways to do this.



Psalm 119:1-8 Commentary

Where can a person find happiness—in a job? in a car? in a relationship? Happiness comes when a person’s

way is blameless because he lives according to the Lord’s instructions. Living obediently to

God’s decrees results in a happy life for two reasons. It removes guilt. Psychiatrists spend much of their

time trying to help their clients deal with the guilt of what they have done in the past for which they both

need forgiveness and need to forgive themselves. Secondly, obedience leads to happiness, for it opens

the door to God’s presence. Unconfessed sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:1-2), but turning away from

sins and back to God’s ways makes it possible for us to walk in God’s presence (1 John 3:24; Ps. 16:11).

Happiness comes from obeying God’s Word; God commanded His precepts be diligently kept.

However, the psalmist also knew he could not do it perfectly. When he thought about how he failed,

the psalmist was ashamed. Our failures call forth a similar response from us (1 John 1:8-9). The psalm

writer wanted to be able to praise God with a sincere heart, which could be translated, an upright or

honest heart. However, the only way he could pull that off was to learn God’s righteous judgments. In

fact, he said three verses later, “I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You.”

As believers, we need to daily seek Him with all [our] heart (v. 2). One way to do that is to study

and obey His statutes. You might start with Matthew 5–7 that talks about how believers behave in the

kingdom of God. Then spend some time digging in Romans 6–8 that examine our sin problem and how

to overcome it. Then wade into Ephesians 4–6 to learn how to have godly relationships in the church, in

the home, and at work, and how to put on the all-important armor of God that is needed to defeat the

devil. Happy are those who daily seek God in the pages of His Word.

Years ago I worked for a man whose house was built on the shore of a channel that poured into the San

Francisco Bay. Over the years, the sidewalks around the house had sunk almost two inches from the

level of the house as the soil settled, but the house remained where it had been established, perfectly

level and plumb. The secret? Before he built his house, my boss had sunk concrete pilings down through

the sandy channel soil to the bedrock below, then he built his house upon those pilings. If we want to

be happy, we need to build our lives upon a solid and dependable foundation. The author of Psalm 119

described God’s Word as solid bedrock upon which we can build our lives (Matt. 7:24-25).

Jesus said a thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but He came so people might have life and

have it in abundance (John 10:10). Outside of the church and inside, people are searching for something

to make life work, to make it happy. The Word of God really is the only reliable place to build your life.




Notes

LiVE it outSAY: “When the writer called the Lord ‘righteous,’ he ascribed to Him a

consistency of character in which there is no deviation. How can you build your life

on this altogether right God?”

> Schedule time to read God’s Word. To discover how God blesses, start

with Proverbs and read a chapter each day for a month. Do at least one of the

proverbs that very day.

> Dig deeper. Read chapter 2, “How Can I Know the Bible is True?” in How Can I

Know? by Robert Jeffress. Invite others to read and discuss it with you.

> Disciple a new believer. Coach someone else in developing a lifelong habit

of Bible reading and study.

Wrap it Up

SAY: “Psalm 119 calls us to move from abstract generalities to concrete realities

about the Bible. Honoring the God of the Bible means personalizing and applying

His commands.”

5 minutes


My group's prayer requests

Additional suggestions for specific groups (women, men, parents, boomers, and singles)

are available at BibleStudiesforLife.com/blog.

On the Same Page

Though my husband, Anwar, and I both love God’s Word, all attempts to consistently explore it together had failed rather miserably. We were both growing, though we rarely found ourselves, quite literally, on the same page. I longed for the oneness described in Genesis 2, where Adam and Eve “became one flesh.” How could that mystery translate to this portion of our relationship?

to continue reading “on the same page” from HomeLife magazine, visit BibleStudiesforLife.com/articles.

B i B l e S t u d i e S f o r l i f e 133© 2013 LifeWay© 2013 LifeWay

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