Trembling at God's Word

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, October twenty-second. Do you make time to read the Bible every day? If not, then you're missing more than you might think.

Here's today's podcast from Isaiah sixty-six. Why do you think the world is in its present deplorable condition? Immorality everywhere?

It's unsafe? Many nations of the world are in financial problems. Warring tribes, warring against each other.

Great need. Why do you think the world's in this condition? Fighting each other? Spiritually dead in so many places? Why do you think we got this way? And we could go on to describe many other aspects of where we are, but the question is, how did we get here? And so, when you look around to see what's happening throughout the world, where people believe in a living God, something happens in their life.

Where they have turned Him off. Where they have decided we don't want any relationship to this God. The only thing that does is bring us down further and further.

We become more and more corrupt, more and more dissatisfied, more and more fearful, more and more dangerous. It isn't something that somebody else does. These are decisions that we make. But we're where we are because we don't want God telling us how to live our lives.

How foolish. How foolish to live and to believe that somehow we can do it better than God did it. He's given us the laws that make it best for us, make life best for others. And He's given us a principle to live by. And He's given us a command that we are to share the truth of His love and His goodness and His mercy and His kindness and His judgment to the whole world. And that's what missions is all about when I think about what we do to get the truth of the gospel there.

And so, I would simply ask you this, are you making a contribution to our society or are you a stumbling block? When you read the Ten Commandments, all of which are positive for our sake, are you violating them and excusing them? Are you attempting to live by the commandments that God gave that's good for us and good for everyone else? Well, I want you to turn, if you will, to Isaiah chapter sixty-six. Isaiah, probably the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. And I only want us to read two verses here to give us a little background of what I want to share with you. In the first verse of Isaiah chapter sixty-six, the Scripture says, Thus says the Lord, Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me?

And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things. And Isaiah's simply saying this to the people. He's not criticizing Solomon for building this awesome, indescribable temple to him. He's simply saying, you know, I appreciate the temple, but that's not the most important thing. God says, I've made everything.

I control everything. I'm not drawn to you by temples and edifices. I'm drawn to you by something else. Then He says, But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. That's what God is looking for. We can't impress God with what we do in building edifices, though there are some beautiful ones.

He says, That's not what I'm primarily interested in. I'm primarily interested in those who have an attitude, a relationship as He says here, who have a humble spirit, contrite spirit, and who tremble at His word. When He says tremble at the word, that means when you and I face the Word of God, we are awed by it. We are struck by it. We are affected by it.

We are impressed by it. Something happens to us when we read the Word of God. God says, That's what I'm interested in. People who, as He says in this passage clearly, tremble at My word.

So, I'd ask you this question. What are the benefits that you and I have of reading the Word of God? In other words, He says those who humble themselves before the Word, those who bow before the Word, those who acknowledge that this is the written Word of the living God.

He says it so clearly. To this one, to that person, He says, I will look to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at the word of God. God says, He has My attention. You want to get God's attention? Open His Word, you've got God's attention.

So, let's think about some of those benefits. And the first one is this. God's Word will lead us to salvation. Listen to what He says in First Peter, first chapter twenty-third verse, For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable through the living and enduring Word of God. All of us got saved as a result of believing the truth of Scripture. You may have known almost no Scripture, but when somebody said, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him to be the Christ, the Savior, the Lord, that person shall be saved. If we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, believe in our heart that God hath raised Him from the dead that shall be saved.

So, one of the benefits, and the benefits go on and on and on. For example, in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, just to show you a few of these benefits, God's Word will guide your steps. Look, if you will, in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, the hundred and fifth verse. This verse most of us memorized a long time ago. Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Which is simply that you should teach your children that so early in life they can't remember when. Your Word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. That is, the Word of God is going to show me where to go and where not to go. It's going to show me what to say and what not to say. It's going to show us how to make decisions. A lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Here's Word. That being true, think about the society in which you and I live and the society in which you live wherever you are. We live in a dangerous society, an unsafe society, a needy society, an immorally decadent society. We live in a society that we need light and truth. And we need direction. We need to walk in His path.

And here's what He says. His Word is a lamp to my feet. Show me where to go. Light to my path.

Mom and dads, grandparents, you ought to drill this into your children's hearts so early in life they cannot remember when. Because what you're saying to them is this, God will show you the right way. He'll show you when you're heading the wrong way.

You don't want to go in this way, which is destructive. You want to go in the way that'll make it possible for you to grow up to be the kind of person that Almighty God wants you to be and He planned for you to be. A third benefit in staying in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, He says God's Word will direct you to wisdom. A hundred and nineteenth Psalm and the hundred and thirtieth verse. The unfolding of your Word gives light.

That's wisdom. It gives understanding to the simple. When you and I read the Word of God, we become wise. Because what does God do? He shows us things that are good for us. He warns us about things that are not good for us. He is a protector. And the Word of God is our greatest protector.

It's like a shield before us. God's Word gives us warnings against things that the world does not warn us against, but really does its best to draw us into it and ultimately destroys us. Then of course, listen to what He says in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, the twenty-eighth verse. God's Word will lift our burden.

He says, my soul weeps because of grief. Strengthen me according to Your Word. And I don't know of any time in life probably when people feel more drawn to the Word of God, when they feel hurt, empty, lonely, estranged, when they're sick, facing death, you name it. That's not the only time we need the Word of God.

We need it every day. For example, my soul weeps because of grief. Strengthen me according to Your Word. And there are many things that people suffer for and have need of that they don't even ask God about. Well, you know, God's not interested in that. Let me ask you, what is it in your life that God is not interested in?

You can't name anything. Your desires are the things that you hate. What you wear, you say, well, God's not interested in what I wear.

Yes, He is. If you look around, sometimes you realize that somebody's not listening. God is interested in every single aspect of our life. And so, when He says, strengthen me according to Your Word, my soul weeps because of grief. Then, for example, in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, the hundred and eleventh verse, God's Word will bring you joy. I have inherited your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

Let me ask you a question. What do you read that brings you more joy than the Word of God? What can you read that brings you more joy than the Word of God? For example, if we just want to start from something that's basic, read the twenty-third Psalm. The Lord is my Shepherd, hallelujah. I shall not want glory to God. We can just go right through the twenty-third Psalm and you're going to feel joy and hope and assurance and confidence.

You know why it's in the Bible? Because God knew you and I would need it, and the whole world needs it. And God says, hear the people that get my attention, those who tremble at My Word. When do you want God's attention? When you're hurting the most.

When you feel lost and estranged and you find yourself in difficulty. That's when most people want God the most. You know what He wants? He desires that you and I want Him just as much when everything is going our way.

When everything seems to be just right, He wants us to be loving toward Him, desirous of Him, obedient to Him, walking in His way, and when the Bible says that He responds to our response to His Word. He says, I'm not impressed by great buildings. I'm impressed by those young and old alike, no matter where you come from, what nation you're from. He says, I'm impressed by those who love My Word. And so, I'd ask you this, do you love the Word of God?

By the way you treat it? Do you have a Bible that you wouldn't give up for anything in the world? And I remember one of the Bibles I preached from for years, I left in the backseat of my car. I went into a vitamin shop to get some vitamins.

I came out and it was gone. And I had a briefcase in there. If I'd have just had the Bible laying there, nobody would have picked that up. But they thought in the briefcase there'd probably be money or something else. The only thing I had in there was a Bible, a Greek New Testament, and my favorite fountain pen.

That's always in there. So, they thought they had something. The truth is, they had my favorite treasure, my Bible. But I don't think they read it.

If they had, they'd have brought it back. Well, I never got it back. But the truth is, the truth in that Bible was in my heart. And of course, you can always have another Bible. But when I think about, he says, I've inherited your testimonies for they are the joy of my heart. And then I just say for this last one, God's Word will give you peace. Psalm 119, 165, those who love your law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble.

Everybody I know wants peace. And I remember being in a restaurant in California, a friend of mine and I, we were out there at a book signing. And the restaurant that morning and this young lady walked up and I could tell something wasn't right. And I said, we got to talking, I said, Ma'am, if you could have anything in the world you want this morning, what would you have? She didn't even hesitate. She said, peace.

And then she began to weep and tell me why, what was going on in her life. You know what peace means? It means to be bound to. In other words, when you have peace, you're bound to God. You will never, never, never, never, never, never have peace without Almighty God. And Jesus said to His disciples, because they were so troubled, My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, because that wouldn't work. My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives give unto you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. That's the promise of God.

And so, when I look at this passage and I see what He says, He says to this one, He says, I will look to Him who is humble and contrite of Spirit and who trembles at My Word. You want God's approval? Get in the book. You want God's approval?

Read it. You want God's approval? Pray about it.

Ask God to speak to your heart. Somebody says, Why? Read some things that I don't understand. Well, just read the parts you do understand.

There's some parts that are difficult to understand, but there's so much that's easy to understand. And God is saying to us, God honors and is committed to blessing those who honor His precious Word. So, when I look at that and I think we hold in our hands the most precious and most valuable thing we own, the Word of God. And then one of my favorite verses about the Scriptures, Isaiah forty, verse eight, He says, The grass withers, flowers fade, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. It doesn't make any difference what anybody says about it.

How many they burn, how many they walk on, how many they trample on, how many they don't believe. This book is not going anywhere. It is the living Word of God. In fact, it's so precious God said, You want to get my attention? You want to know who I really and truly am impressed by.

Not people who build great buildings, have great reputations, great speakers, great this, great that. God says, I look to the One, I favor the One who trembles before My Word. You believe it, you obey it, you treasure it because it's God's message to us. And listen to this, the message of this book will transform anybody's life. It'll give you absolute assurance that when you die, you go to heaven.

But it also gives a warning. You die without Christ, you'll be eternally separated from Him. Where does the Word of God fit into your life? Can you say you love it? Can you say you treasure it? Because listen, to say you love the Bible is to say you love God. To say you treasure the Bible is to say you treasure God. This is His Word. This is God and print. You say, you say the Bible's God?

No. But it's the mind of God, the heart of God, the Spirit of God. It's all about who God is. From Genesis one that begins, in the beginning. Somebody says, in the beginning of what? In the beginning of everything.

God created the heavens and the earth and we come to the last verse of the Revelation and God is still on His throne doing what He promised to do. So, I would simply say this. If you do have one and you have to dust it off, get it dusted off today. Open it up and before you go to bed tonight, read it.

A lot of people have problems sleeping. How many times have I done that? Lord, a lot of things on my mind. I want the last thing on my mind to be holy God. And watch this, more than likely, the first thing on your mind the next day will be holy God.

Amen? Father, how grateful we are that You loved us enough to give us Your Word and that You have kept it down through these generations pure. That we can read it in any given situation no matter what. And know in our heart we're doing the right thing.

We're getting true instruction. And we will be helped and guided properly every single time. We love You for this precious gift in Jesus's name.

Amen. Well, if you've never trusted Him as your Savior, let me just say this to you. There's only one way to heaven and that's the way of the cross.

The resurrected Christ who died on the cross for your sins. He paid your sin dead and full and the Bible's clear about that. And the Bible's clear about how to be saved. The Bible's clear about going to heaven. And the Bible is clear about the warnings of those who reject Him. So, I trust that if you've never trusted Him as your Savior, you are willing to say to Him today, Lord, I'm asking You to forgive me of my sin.

I don't understand it a lot, but I do believe according to the Scripture that You'll forgive me of my sin. I surrender my life to You today and want to be the person You want me to be. Will He answer your petition?

Yes. Thank you for listening to Trembling at God's Word. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.