Psalm 119:9-16

Order of Service

• Prayer of Intercession
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Inspiration and Delight of God's Word

Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16

I. Why We Need Scripture

A. Review from previous week: General and Special Revelation

1. General revelation is how God speaks through creation; special revelation is the written Word God has given his people
2. The fall affected humanity's ability to know God through creation, so God graciously gave scripture adapted to our need as sinners
3. Things creation alone cannot tell us — such as God's plan of redemption — are revealed through scripture

B. The goal of studying the doctrine of scripture is not information alone

1. Kevin DeYoung, Taking God at His Word: "The goal of revelation is not information only, but affection, worship, and obedience"
2. Psalm 119:9-16 — the psalmist speaks personally and possessively of God's word ("your word," "your statutes") and repeatedly expresses delight in it
3. Knowing the right doctrine of scripture means little without growing delight in scripture

II. God Is a Speaking God

A. From the very beginning, God reveals himself through speech

1. Genesis 1 — the repeated refrain of creation: "And God said…"
2. 1 Kings 8 — Solomon acknowledges that God "spoke with your mouth" and fulfilled his promises to David
3. Jeremiah 1:9 — "I have put my words in your mouth" — God places his words directly into the mouths of the prophets

B. Inspiration begins with the recognition that God speaks through people

III. The Doctrine of Verbal Plenary Inspiration

A. The key text: 2 Timothy 3:16

1. "All Scripture is breathed out by God" — the Greek word theopneustos means "God-breathed"
2. Paul likely draws on Psalm 33:6 ("by the breath of his mouth all their hosts") connecting the breath of creation with the breath of scripture

B. Definition from A. A. Hodge and B. B. Warfield, Inspiration

1. "God presided over the sacred writers in their entire work of writing with the design and effect of rendering that writing an errorless record of the matters he designed them to communicate"
2. Verbal — the very words themselves are inspired, not just ideas or concepts
3. Plenary — all parts of scripture are inspired: every word, sentence, paragraph, genre, and human author

C. Scripture is both Divine and human — the doctrine of concursive operation

1. 2 Peter 1:19-21 — "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit"
2. "Carried along" does not mean the human authors were passive shells; it conveys the Spirit sovereignly overseeing and bringing to fulfillment exactly what God intended
3. God, in his Providence, ordained every detail of the writers' backgrounds, education, skills, and circumstances so that what they wrote was fully his word and fully their own

D. Implications of concursive inspiration

1. The original autographs are the very words of God; God protects and preserves his word through faithful translation
2. God did not use empty vessels — he did not override human consciousness, but worked through fully human authors
3. Scripture is God's word whether or not anyone reads it; it does not "become" his word only in the moment of reading

IV. Why God Gave His Word This Way

A. Contrast with other religious claims (e.g., the Quran simply "dropped down"): God's method of inspiration through history and human beings reflects his character and his providential work in history B. The messy, historical, human means of inspiration strengthens rather than weakens confidence in scripture C. Westminster Confession of Faith: full persuasion and assurance of scripture's infallible truth and divine authority comes from "the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts"

1. We need the Spirit's work to believe scripture and to have it grow our affection, lead us to worship, and produce obedience