Sadly, many Christians seldom truly study the Bible. Well over 100 years ago, the Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “Old-fashioned believers could give you chapter and verse for what they believed; but how few of such remain!”

On the other hand, Ronald Reagan said, “Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.” The Bible is God’s inspired Word. It is dependable, unchangeable, indestructible, comprehensive, accurate, current, and eternal. Its wealth of wisdom is unmatched. Its rebuke is always just. Its life-changing message of salvation is priceless. Its words of comfort pass understanding. If we truly believe these facts about the Bible, it ought to inspire us to read and study the Bible every day.

Transition

This evening I want us to note 15 personal benefits of studying the Bible that are found in Psalm 119.

Cleanses if heeded, v.9

  1. The Bible tells us how to clean our way and how to keep it clean.
  2. This promise is ours if we will obey the Bible we read.

Protects against sin, v.11

  1. The Bible will keep us from sin.
  2. However, we must hide it in our hearts.² This Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.

Reveals wondrous things, v.18

  1. The Bible contains things that are marvellous, wonderful, surpassing, and extraordinary.
  2. We will see these things as we read with God’s guidance.V (1 Corinthians 2:12-13) “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

Provides strength, v.28

  1. The Psalmist said that his soul melted for heaviness, grief, or sorrow. Burdens caused him to lose his strength like a melted candle.
  2. The word here translated “strengthen” means “to stand up”. He tells us that God’s word is able to stand up those who are melted by burdens, grief, or sorrow.

Restores emotional health, v.50

  1. In times of affliction, poverty, or misery, we need comfort. Emotional burdens are often worse than physical ones.
  2. The Bible is that which can quicken us. The word “quicken” means to give life, to revive, to restore health.

Provides wholesome meditation, v.97

  1. We think about things all day long. If we do not have good things to think about, the Devil is quick to provide many evil things.
  2. By loving the Bible and meditating on the many principles we find in it, our thought-life will be victorious.

Sweetens the heart, v.103

  1. As we daily read the Bible and dig into its truths, we will gain a sweet taste for the things of God.² Many Christians think the Bible is bitter because they have never eaten enough to realize how sweet it really is.
  2. It is just like food. The more you eat a certain food, the more you begin to view it as sweet to the taste.

Directs, v.105

  1. The Bible is like a light or a lamp on the pathway of life.
  2. By daily keeping the wick trimmed and the lamp clean through careful study, the Bible will reveal dangers and highlight the straight and narrow path of God’s blessing.

Provides upholding, v.116

  1. The word “uphold” means to support. God uses the Bible to support us.V (Psalms 145:14) “The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.”
  2. This is beautifully expressed in God’s promise to Israel.V (Isaiah 41:10) “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Gives light, v.130

  1. Life is often like walking in the dark and lacking understanding to find our way. We must make decisions and we do not know which way to turn.
  2. God assures us that entering (opening, unfolding) the Bible will give us light and understanding when we are simple-minded.

Gives stability, v.133

  1. The word translated “order” means to be firm, stable, established.
  2. If our feet are firmly set in God’s word, no iniquity or wickedness will be able to defeat us. Any time life is like walking on a wet, slippery tile floor, it is because we have not been standing firmly in God’s Word.

Provides a true foundation, v.160

  1. The Bible is true from cover to cover. A few parts are difficult to grasp, but God knows what they mean and one day he will explain them to us.
  2. Every one of God’s judgments (decisions) is right. If we will read and live by the Bible, we will make far fewer mistakes in life.

Gives great peace to those who love it, v.165

  1. Here is a conditional promise. The Bible only gives great peace to those who love it. Those who seldom read it and rarely obey it, never know that peace.
  2. Those who know this peace will not be offended or stumble during life’s troublesome seasons.

Gives understanding, v.169

  1. Here again, God assures us that the Bible will give us understanding or discernment.
  2. We need understanding from God to build a solid marriage, to rear God-fearing, obedient children, to make wise financial decisions, to resolve conflicts, and to live godly in an ungodly world.

Provides deliverance, v.170

  1. The commands and principles in the Bible will deliver (save, rescue, pull us away) us from many dangers.
  2. Without the Bible to pull us away, we will be as a mouse lured into a trap by the tempting bait.V (Psalms 72:12) “For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.”

    V (Psalms 91:3) “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.”

    V (Proverbs 2:16) “To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;”

Conclusion

Truly studying the Bible in the year to come could be the greatest blessing in your life since your salvation. This evening I want to urge you to make a resolution. I am not big on resolutions, but I believe they are necessary at times.

RESOLUTION

I will Promise God to make Bible reading a priority this year.

I will Plan a time, a place, and a schedule for reading the Bible. (If you have no plan, you will likely fail. Do not substitute religious reading.)

I will Pursue daily a personal principle and record it

I will Persist when it gets difficult and I feel like quitting.

Song: Holy Bible, Book Divine, 179
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Benefits of Personal Bible Study
28 December 2014 pm – Psalm 119:9 – Scott Childs