1. Stability (Psalm 1:3)
2. Prosperity (Psalm 1:3)
3. Victory over Sin (Matthew 4)
4. Clarity in the Gospel (Colossians 3:16)

The title of my message this morning is “Blessings of Being Bible-Saturated.” My heart for you this morning is that you might see the blessings of a life that is saturated in the Bible. And then, seeing the blessings, would continue on to pursue such a life, especially in 2025. I want to begin in Psalm, chapter 1. So, turn there if you will. As you are turning there, I want to talk about what I mean by Bible-Saturated.

Here’s a dictionary definition of “Saturated.”
    1. Unable to hold or contain more; full.
    2. Soaked with moisture; drenched.

To give you an illustration, I have a sponge right here. It is dry. It holds no water. I can squeeze it all that I like, and nothing is coming out. But dip the sponge in water, and it sucks up the water. I can squeeze it, and a little comes out. But, then, I submerge the sponge in water, and squeeze it a few times in the water. And then, as I pull it out, it’s “saturated.” It’s dripping water. I squeeze it, and the water comes rushing out.

This is what I mean by being “Bible-Saturated.” So full, that you can hardly hold any more. When you are squeezed, the Bible comes flowing out of you. When you are like a sponge, fully saturated with the Bible, you will experience blessings in your life.

You will experience 1. Stability (Psalm 1:3) 2. Prosperity (Psalm 1:3) 3. Victory over Sin (Matthew 4) 4. Clarity in the Gospel (Colossians 3:16)

When I talk about being Bible-saturated, I’m not merely talking about knowing the Bible. I’m talking about the Bible affecting all of you. Charles Spurgeon writes,

“Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God, and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it, so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord—not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it till we have taken it into our inmost parts. It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetical expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your very style is fashioned upon Scripture models, and, what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord.

I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like reading the Bible itself. He had read it till his very soul was saturated with Scripture; and, though his writings are charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim’s Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems — without continually making us feel and say, “Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him.”^[1]

That’s what I’m aiming at for all of you. Such are “The Blessings of Being Bible-Saturated.” So, let’s begin in Psalm 1. Let me read it for you:

Psalm 1
Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

We see the Bible-Saturation in verse 2, "his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." The core of Bible-Saturation is this word “meditate.”

Here’s a definition of “meditate.”
    1. to engage in contemplation or reflection
    2. to focus one's thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over

When it comes to Psalm 1, it means that you are thinking about the Scriptures. it means that you contemplating the Bible. it means that you are reflecting on the truth of God’s word.

This can happen in a bunch of different ways. It can happen when you read the Bible, and consider what it says. It can happen when you memorize portions of the Bible, and ponder them in your mind. It can happen when you study the Bible, taking notes and reading books about the Bible. It can happen when you are listening to the Bible being read, perhaps on a podcast, or at Family Worship. It can happen when you are listening to a sermon, like right now, if you are engaging your mind upon Psalm 1 and verse 2, then you are meditating upon the Scriptures.

But verse 2 goes beyond these things, in that it has a time reference. Verse 2 reads, "his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. This takes the meditation to another level. Psalm 1 isn’t speaking about meditation for a few minutes each day. Psalm 1 is talking about meditation all the day!

This takes place when you read the Bible, and then take some efforts remember what you read that day, and then make an effort to chew on what you read throughout the day. This takes place when you memorize a portion of the Bible, and then repeat it in your mind as you walk through your day. This takes place when you study the Bible, and then review what you learned that day. This takes place when you put on some earbuds, and listen to the Bible or a sermon during the day. This takes place when you lie down at night and place your head upon your pillow, and close your eyes, and think about some portion of Scripture.

Did you notice that this is a delight and not a hardship? Verse 2 again, "his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." This comes from a love for God and his word. Psalm 119:97 reads, "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." Such a one is blessed!

Oh, how my longing at Rock Valley Bible Church is that this would be true of every one of you. I long hat you would so love God’s word, hat you would think of it all the time, and experience the blessing being Bible-saturated.

Look at verse 3 and what it says, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. This is my first point, 

1. Stability (Psalm 1:3)

That’s the picture of the tree that is planted by streams of water. It’s not moving when the wind blows. It’s not fearful of the drought, because the tree is nearby the water source. It’s bearing fruit in its season.

This deserves a picture. Here’s a picture of the Jordan River in Israel. You get a sense of how dry it is in that region. Very little grows away from the river. Yet, near the river, the trees flourish, because their roots run deep, and the trees are nourished by the river. even if there is no rain for a season. the water of the river comes and nourishes the tree.

This is exactly the picture of the Bible-saturation that I want for you to have in your mind. Despite the dryness all around, the one who’s mind is full and fixated upon the Scripture will experience a vitality of life! and the blessings of God.

This tree is in contrast to the chaff in verse 4, "The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away." Chaff is the part of the plant that covers and protects the seed. it is light and easily blown away. Ancient farmers would throw the seed into the air, and the chaff would blow away, since it’s lighter. but the seed would fall to the ground. It’s still done today by subsistence farmers.

Here’s a picture of a woman in India winnowing her rice. She picks up her grain above her head. and drops it in the wind. Her seed falls straight down. but the chaff blows away. This is the picture of the wicked, the one who walks in the counsel of the wicked, the one who stands in the way of sinners, the one who sits in the seat of scoffers. the one who neglects the Scriptures. Such a one will be blown away by the wind.

But the blessing comes upon the man, "who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." The blessing is that the Scriptures become the stability of his soul. He walks in the right way, and thinks on the right things, so that when the trouble comes, or a husband dies, or a wife gets sick, or a job is lost, or a house burns down, he is not shaken.

The blessed life will be a life of stability. Oh, how I long for you all to have that sort of life. especially as a pastor. One of my aims is to help prepare you for the times of trouble that will come upon you. And the time to prepare is now. By trusting in the LORD and meditating upon his word, so that when the trials come, you will have the worldview to trust in the LORD through your trials.

Consider to the parallel passage in Jeremiah 17.

Jeremiah 17:7
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
    whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

This is the blessing that comes upon the one who is Bible-saturated: Stability (Psalm 1:3). But that’s not all that Psalm 1 speaks about. Look again at verse 3, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." Here’s a second blessing of being Bible-saturated: 

2. Prosperity (Psalm 1:3)

Now, when we hear this word, we might naturally wince. Because it’s the final punch of what we know as the “health, wealth, and prosperity” gospel. There are those who preach that if you believe in Jesus, you will be healthy and you will be wealthy and you will enjoy a prosperous life. They promise these great things! So people come to believe in Jesus, so that their life will get better. When, in fact, there are ways when you come to Jesus, that your life will get worse.

Consider the calling of Jesus. He calls us to die! “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Following Jesus means dying to yourself. Jesus also said that to follow him is to give up all you have: "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33).

Consider what more Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:18-20).

So, when preachers come along and promise “health, wealth, and prosperity,” we know that this doesn’t match with Scripture. Often, following Jesus brings, “trial and scorn and hardship.” Yet, church family, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Because, verse 3 promises “prosperity” to the one who is Bible-saturated. "In all that he does, he prospers" (Psalm 1:3).

However, we need to ask, what sort of “prosperity” is being promised here in Psalm 1? Is it material wealth? Is it success in all things? I don’t think so. I think that you need to read this in light of the stability promised in the earlier part of the verse. It means that you will bloom at the right time, as the leaves come out in season. It means that when difficulties come, not only will you stand firm like a tree, but you will also flourish through your trials. Nothing can beat you down.

The Scriptures will give you the wisdom you need weather the storms with joy. You will have the faith to trust in the LORD through all things. You will successfully understand life and the circumstances surrounding you, because God’s word will teach you and inform you and guide you. When God has his hand upon you for his purpose, nothing will be able to thwart you.

Do you remember God’s promise to Joshua, and he commissioned him to lead the people of Israel into the promised land? "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8). The path to prosperity in the kingdom is through daily meditation upon God’s word. or as I have said, “being Bible-saturated.”

Let’s consider a third blessing of being Bible-saturated. 

3. Victory over Sin (Matthew 4)

We see this modeled in the temptation of Jesus. If you know the story, Jesus was on the verge of his public ministry. He set apart 40 days for himself to fast and pray in the wilderness. And Satan came up and temped Jesus to sin. Three times Satan tempted him. And three times, Jesus quoted the Scripture to thwart the temptation.

Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Now, this passage says nothing about meditation or being Bible-saturated, yet Jesus was clearly Bible-saturated, so that when Satan tempted him, Jesus was able to respond with an appropriate Scripture to combat the temptation. Every time, Jesus says, “It is written.” When Jesus was tempted, he turned to the clear teaching of the Scripture to strengthen him to walk in God’s way. Though Jesus was God in the flesh, perhaps able to lean on his deity to thwart the power of Satan, in his humanness, he turned to the Scripture as a help in times of temptation. This speaks to the power of Scripture to help you in times of temptation.

So, for you as well, if you want to have victory over sin, Bible-saturation is helpful. You also need to trust in the Scripture, that God has given it to us for our good. And it is better for you to follow in the ways of God, rather than in the ways that you are tempted. And you must fight the fight of faith in the moment of temptation. And you must fight it with the Scripture.

See, the Scriptures will help bring clarity to you in your times of confusion when you are being tempted to sin. And the only way that the Scripture can come to your aid, is if it’s on your heart, ready to be retrieved in a moment’s notice.

Have you ever considered the passages of Scripture that Jesus quotes?
    Verse 4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
    Verse 7, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Deuteronomy 6:16).
    Verse 10, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Deuteronomy 6:13).

Do you see a pattern? All of these Scriptures come from Deuteronomy. Why from Deuteronomy? In the book of Deuteronomy, Jews were wandering in the wilderness. They had done so for 40 years, and were near the end of their wanderings. Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days. Perhaps he was identifying himself with the people of God in the wilderness. pondering their trials and particular temptations. so that when Satan came, he was ready to resist. I do not doubt at all that Jesus was meditating upon Deuteronomy during his days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness, especially as he was able to pull up verses from Deuteronomy so quickly and effortlessly.

The mere fact that the book of Deuteronomy was able to strengthen Jesus to the temptations brought by the devil, himself, ought to give you encouragement that all of Scripture is able to help you as well in your time of temptation, to give you victory over sin.

This is the promise of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." The whole Bible is helpful to you in your training in righteousness, that’s why we are providing resources to you to help you in reading through the entire Bible over the next two years. We have a podcast that you are able to listen to on a daily basis, wherever you are. We have groups to help with the accountability of reading, and to help you with the accountability of learning and applying it to your life. We are providing these things, because we believe that there are blessings to being Bible-saturated.

Now, before we move on to my last point, I just want to make a comment about how helpful all of Scripture is in times of temptation.

It’s helpful to have verses memorized about anxiety. In Matthew 6:25, Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. Paul addresses this as well in Philippians 4:6, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." That’s well and good. But I have seen people try to combat their anxiety through quoting these verses over and over to themselves: “Don’t be anxious about your life.” “Don’t be anxious about your life.” “Don’t be anxious about anything.” “Don’t be anxious about anything.”

But often, they have missed the value of a broad scope of Scripture in combating anxiety. For instance, consider the people of Israel. When they were in trouble, they cried out to God, "And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew" (Exodus 2:24-25). God knows your anxious groaning. God will be faithful to you. When the people of Israel were thirsty in the wilderness, God knew, and provided water from the Rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:1-7), enough water to give drink to the entire nation of Israel!

These passages teach us that God knows your need. He will provide your every need (Philippians 4:19), such as he did with Manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16), as he did with providing clothing and sandals that did not wear out (Deuteronomy 8:4), as he provided victory in the conquest of the land (Joshua). Meditating upon these things might do you more good to battle the temptation than a mere verse of Scripture that commands you to live in a certain way. As you think back to the ways that God has acted toward his people, so also you can be comforted that God will act in the same way toward you. Thus, there is no reason to be anxious, because God will provide.

Throughout Biblical history, God has provided. He provided a sacrifice for Abraham (Genesis 22). He provided Joseph as a savior for his family (Genesis 45). He provided the law for Israel to follow (Exodus and Leviticus). He provided healing with the bronze serpent (Numbers 21). He provided food for Elijah during a famine (1 Kings 17). He provided flour and oil for the widow and her son (1 Kings 17). He provided protection for Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 5).

He will provide a way of escape for you in your temptation. "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

And I do that the major way that God will strengthen you to have victory of your sin in your time of anxiety is through bringing to mind the truth of the Scripture in your time of need, that you have meditated upon.

OK, Our last point this morning: 

4. Clarity in the Gospel (Colossians 3:16)

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Let the Bible saturate you. Let it dwell in you so richly that it overflows, like a sponge saturated with water. Let the Word fill you so thoroughly that it naturally flows out of your life.

There’s the command. But then we ask, "What does it mean for the Word to dwell in you richly?" It means meditation. It means regular intake. And there are so many other ways to talk about being Bible-saturated.

It helps your evangelism. It keeps you ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you, because that hope is grounded in your growing relationship with God. It impacts your salvation. The Word of God, the law of the Lord, is perfect. It revives the soul. It makes the simple wise. It transforms us. We're saved by the Word of God, the gospel. It gives us wisdom.

Psalm 119:99 says, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.” Sanctification also comes through the Word. John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” All these are blessings of being Bible-saturated. But I want to focus on this one in particular: clarity in the gospel.

When we talk about “the word of Christ,” what is it? Yes, it's the Bible, but more specifically, it's the message about the Messiah. It’s the message of salvation, the gospel. And I think that both salvation and sanctification hinge on continually remembering the gospel in your life.

There are many ways for the gospel to dwell in you. You do that by knowing the Scriptures and meditating on key gospel passages. For example, in Ephesians 2 we read that we were dead in our sins, but God made us alive by His grace, by grace you have been saved. Romans 4 teaches that we’re saved by faith alone. We have no grounds for boasting before God; our salvation is by faith in Christ alone. Other passages highlight different facets of the gospel:

1 John 2:1-2: “We have an advocate with the Father.” Jesus stands as our defense attorney.

1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.”

Titus 3:5 It’s not by works of righteousness that we are saved.

The book of Hebrews speaks of the glories of the New Covenant, how much better Jesus is than any religious system.

James reminds us that true faith is alive and active and full of good works.

The book of Colossians helps us define the gospel as well. In chapter 1, verse 16, we see the supremacy of Christ: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Every inch of the universe belongs to Christ, so says Abraham Kuyper. Or as R.C. Sproul put it, “There is not a maverick molecule in the universe.”

Through Christ, God reconciled all things to Himself. The reality of the gospel comes in verse 21, we read, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.”

We were once alienated and hostile in mind, but now—through Christ—we are reconciled to God. Colossians 2:13 continues, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” He has forgiven all of it—if you believe and trust in Christ, there’s not a single transgression for which God will still demand payment from you.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). That truth is a tremendous blessing. It brings clarity to the gospel in your own life.

One of the things the gospel provides is a ballast for your soul. A ballast is the stabilizing weight in the bottom of a ship. When a ship rocks from side to side, the ballast keeps it centered and upright.

The gospel is like that. On one side, there are people who lean toward pride. Maybe you’ve been at church a long time, you’ve grown up in the faith, you read your Bible, you don’t do “bad” things. There’s a veneer of righteousness. But that can lead to the attitude: “Look at how good I am.” When you start leaning that way, the gospel reminds you: “You were dead in your sins.” You don’t stand before God on your own righteousness. Christ had to die for you. You are not perfect—you are sinful and you need Jesus.

On the other side are those who despair over their sin. You feel like your sin is too great. As Paul cried out in Romans 7, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” You feel like you can't conquer your sin, and you're discouraged. What does the gospel say to you? “Fear not. There is no condemnation in Christ.” Though your sins are many, they’re wiped away. They're thrown into the depths of the sea. God remembers them no more.

So whether you’re prideful in your own righteousness or crushed by your own sin, the gospel brings you back to center. It allows you to walk straight down the middle: saved and justified by grace, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

That is gospel clarity. That’s what it means for the Word of Christ to dwell in you richly. May you all know and experience the blessings of being Bible-Saturated!

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on December 29, 2024 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] See https://theoldguys.org/2013/05/03/charles-spurgeon-may-we-bleed-bibline/.