James Montgomery Boice - Living by the Book: The Joy of Loving and Trusting Gods Word

Books by James Montgomery Boice

Witness and Revelation in the Gospel of John

Philippians: An Expositional Commentary

The Sermon on the Mount

How to Live the Christian Life (originally, How to Live It Up )

Ordinary Men Called by God (originally, How God Can Use Nobodies )

The Last and Future World

The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (5 volumes in one)

Galatians in the Expositors Bible Commentary

Can You Run Away from God?

Our Sovereign God, editor

Our Savior God: Studies on Man, Christ and the Atonement, editor

Does Inerrancy Matter?

The Foundation of Biblical Authority, editor

Making Gods Word Plain, editor

The Epistles of John

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (3 volumes)

The Parables of Jesus

The Christ of Christmas

The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary (2 volumes)

Standing on the Rock

The Christ of the Open Tomb

Foundations of the Christian Faith (4 volumes in one)

Christs Call to Discipleship

Transforming Our World: A Call to Action, editor

Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary

Daniel: An Expositional Commentary

Joshua: We Will Serve the Lord

Nehemiah: Learning to Lead

The King Has Come

Romans (4 volumes)

Mind Renewal in a Mindless Age

Amazing Grace

Psalms (2 of 3 volumes)

Sure I Believe, So What!

Hearing God When You Hurt

Two Cities / Two Loves

Here We Stand: A Call from Confessing Evangelicals, editor, with Benjamin E. Sasse

1997 by James Montgomery Boice

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To HIM

who is the faithful and true witness

the ruler of Gods creation

Preface

A BOUT TWO-THIRDS OF THE WAY THROUGH THE BOOK OF Psalms the student of Scripture comes on both the shortest psalm in the Psalter, which is also the shortest chapter in the Bible, and two psalms later the longest psalm, which is also the longest chapter. The first is Psalm 117. It has two verses and five lines. The second is Psalm 119. It has 176 verses and 315 lines. Psalm 117 tells us to praise God. Psalm 119 praises God for the gift of his Word, which is one of the chief reasons we should praise him. This is because it is only through the Bible that we can come to know who God is and learn to live an upright Christian life.

Over the years many great Bible teachers have been drawn to this psalm. John Calvin, the chief theologian of the Reformation period, preached twenty-two sermons on Psalm 119, one for each of the psalms twenty-two sections. He preached them in Geneva, Switzerland, between January 8 and June 2, 1553. Charles Bridges, a British evangelical of the last century, matched Calvin with a large study, also twenty-two chapters. Thomas Manton won the prize. He was one of the Puritans and was quite prolific, as were many of them. He wrote three massive volumes on this psalm, running to more than 1,600 pages with 190 sermonsmore than one sermon per verse.

In my judgment, scholarly and pastoral acclaim of this nature is completely justified, for Psalm 119 is truly a great psalm, a masterpiece of devout reflection on the nature, blessing, and glory of the Word of God.

We live in a day when people do not much value Gods Word, even in evangelical churches. We say that we value it, but our neglect of the Word belies our confession. We do not spend much time in serious Bible study. We do not memorize Gods Word, hiding it in our hearts, as the psalmist says he did. As for todays preachers, many of them also neglect the Word, thinking that it will not appeal to mass audiences and that serious Bible teaching will harm their churches growth. They turn instead to worldly devices, like humor, drama, and other forms of entertainment.

Well, the worlds methods may fill churches, just as they can fill stadiums for rock concerts, but work done in that way will be the worlds work, not the work of God. This psalm tells us that if we would grow in grace and in the knowledge of God, be kept from sin, and be directed in a right path so that we will come into the presence of God in heaven at the last, we must be students of this Book. To use Francis Bacons famous line, the Bible must be something we read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.

The Bible meant more to the writer of this psalm than anything else in life. The psalm is his attempt to tell us why. If the Bible is equally precious to you, you will rejoice as you study this psalm and find yourself echoing the psalmists statements in your own mind and heart. If the Bible is not precious to you, you should study this psalm to find out why it should be and perhaps come to love it as the psalmist did.

It was my privilege to expound this psalm to the congregation of Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia during the cold Northeast winter of 1996. As we studied the psalm together, we were spiritually warmed.

First Things First

Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,

who walk according to the law of the L ORD.

Blessed are they who keep his statutes

and seek him with all their heart.

They do nothing wrong;

they walk in his ways.

You have laid down precepts

that are to be fully obeyed.

Oh, that my ways were steadfast

in obeying your decrees!

Then I would not be put to shame

when I consider all your commands.

I will praise you with an upright heart

as I learn your righteous laws.

I will obey your decrees;

do not utterly forsake me.

Psalm 119:18

A N ENTIRE PSALM ABOUT THE B IBLE ? W HAT A SURPRISING thing! But should it really be surprising? Not when we consider that the Bible is the greatest of all Gods good gifts to us and one we must learn to appreciate. Psalm 119 will help us do that. That is its purpose, to tell us how wonderful the Bible is and to help us understand it. Psalm 119 is a very great psalm. Derek Kidner, an Old Testament scholar, calls Psalm 119 a giant among the psalms, saying that it shows the full flowering of that delightin the law of the Lord, which is described in Psalm 1, and gives its personal witness to the many-sided qualities of Scripture praised in Psalm 19.

So much has been written on Psalm 119 that it is impossible to cite even a portion of the works. In his Treasury of David Charles Spurgeon has 349 pages on this psalm, virtually a book in itself. Charles Bridges, a Church of England evangelical in the last century, wrote 481 pages (Banner of Truth Trust edition). His book contains a sermon for each of the psalms twenty-two stanzas and was issued in 1827 when Bridges was only thirty-three years old. Most impressive is the three volume work by Thomas Manton. Each volume is between 500 and 600 pages in length, for a total of 1,677 pages, and there are 190 long chapters in all.