The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
The Bible better than money
I. Because it gives us better food. It is well designated the “word of life,” because by it the life of God is implanted in the human spirit and by it preserved. Christ is “our life,” and the support of “our life”; and the Bible is full of Christ.
II. Because it gives us better raiment. It offers you the “robe of righteousness,” and “the robe of joy”;--robes that adorn, protect, exalt, and endure.
III. Because it gives us better friends. A true friend is the dearest treasure of earth. Money can give you friends; but they are seldom true. And even the richest friends that money can buy for you are not to be compared with the poorest friends the Bible can give, the true men of earth, the angels and archangels of heaven, “the spirits of just men made perfect,” “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” and the praises thereof, these are the friends the Bible offers you.
IV. Because it gives us better homes. Money can give you very fine houses. But it cannot give you “a building of God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.” The Bible can. (J. Dunlop.)
God’s Word better than wealth
I. It secures a higher culture. It gives a freedom and a force to the intellect, a depth and a purity to the sympathies, a sensibility to the conscience, an invincibility to the purpose, a refinement to the tastes, a penetration to the eye, and a pinion to the imagination, that no other appliances on this earth can furnish.
II. It invests with a higher power. Wealth cannot impart magnanimity, fortitude, courage; but the Word of God does to the highest degree. It enables the soul to glory in tribulation, and to welcome death with rapture.
III. It opens up higher enjoyments. Wealth cannot give the enjoyment of an approving conscience, a loving spirit, an ever-brightening future, and the friendship of the everlasting Father.
IV. It connects with a higher world. The gold and silver of all the earth can form no connection between us and the celestial state, can procure us no admission into the heavenly world. “Naked came we into the world,” etc. But the Word of God abides in us, goes with us as our light and our sanctuary. (Homilist.)
The preciousness of the Divine Word
I. The true nature, of the Word of God.
1. Its authority, It is a “law.” As such it is a rule of conduct; solemnly obligatory; and supported by rewards and punishments.
2. Its divinity. The law of God’s “mouth:” Not of human but of Divine origin. The revelation of God’s mind to man (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). It possesses striking evidences of divinity.
(1) Its great and sublime doctrines.
(2) Its antiquity and preservation.
(3) Its renovating influence, sanctifying power, etc. (John 17:17).
II. Its inestimable worth.
1. In many things it resembles gold and silver.
(1) On account of its preciousness. Gold and silver most precious of metals. Word of God intrinsically so (Psalms 138:2).
(2) In gold and silver there is much value in small compass. So the Word of God. Of more worth than all the books in the universe. Every word precious, etc.
(3) For their purity. Every word of God is pure. The standard of purity (Proverbs 30:5).
(4) For their splendour. So the Word of God is luminous, resplendent.
(5) For their solidity and weight. Word of God is solid, weighty; nothing trivial or light.
(6) For their unconsumable essence. Fire does not destroy, etc. It purifies, and removes only the dross.
(7):For their usefulness.
2. But it is better than gold and silver.
(1) Better in itself. Heavenly and spiritual in its nature.
(2) Better in its object and design. Destined for the soul.
(3) Better in its effects. Spiritual and eternal advantages.
(4) Better in point of essentiality.
(5) Better in point of certainty. Word of God sure. Thieves cannot rob us.
(6) Better in point of durability. The Word of God as incorruptible as the great Original from whence it proceeded.
Application--
1. Bless God for His precious Word. Next to Jesus and the Holy Spirit His greatest gift to man.
2. Prize and revere it. Set your hearts upon it.
3. Seek to be greatly enriched with it. Covet much of it, etc. Lay it up. Dig for it.
4. Use it. Apply it to your diversity of condition. It is profitable for all seasons and circumstances.
5. What shall be the end of those who neglect the Gospel of Christ? (J. Burns, D. D.)
The value of the Word of God
This is not an utterance in depreciation of gold and silver; precisely the reverse. It sets a high value upon them; and when sentimental pietists declare that they despise money and esteem gold as good for nothing, very many sensible people set it down as so much empty rant and nonsense. Gold is eminently useful in building a house and fitting it up with beauty and splendour, in providing food and raiment, and enabling a man to travel and secure all sorts of legitimate temporal enjoyments; but it makes him no wiser, no purer, no holier--it does not necessarily develop these qualities, or increase his faith, or fortify him against moral and spiritual evil, or expand his love to God and man; it often does the very reverse; while the outcome of God’s law is always, useful and good. Gold and silver are undeniably serviceable in many other directions which it were wrong and sinful fret to recognize. The progressive amelioration of the condition of our race by which this age is characterized beyond all others is instrumentally due in a large measure to the wise and generous use made of earthly treasures, in promoting religious and scientific education, and, above all, in scattering broadcast over the whole world the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So far as money is used for such purposes as these its utility and value can scarcely be overestimated. Yet we must place it in the category of “the things which are temporal.” But in seeking to form a just estimate of the value of the Word, let us view it--
I. In relation to intellectual development. The great purifying currents of thought that have elevated our race have been formed and directed by the Bible. This alone should be decisive. Without attempting to sketch the history of its brilliant achievements, it may be said in a word that the nations which do not possess or follow the Book move upon a far lower plane intellectually, morally, and spiritually than those which have it. Paganism, in its highest forms, has been an utter failure. Pagan lands have been, and are now, non-progressive and impure, the abodes of mental stagnation, festering vice and horrid cruelties, while Bible lands are fruitful in all manner of useful discoveries. They lead the van of the world’s mental and material progress. They revolutionize the commerce of nations. Their railways and steamships unite the ends of the earth and place its products and luxuries within the reach of all.
II. In relation to moral culture. It is not necessary to disparage ethical systems of heathen philosophers and others as if they contained no truth. Some of them contained a great deal. But looking over them from the days of Aristotle and Socrates to the time of the latest pagan writer, it may be said of them all that they lacked the great fundamental principle which is the backbone of Christian ethics, namely, an infallible standard by which to judge of right and wrong. This was their radical defect, and what renders worthless or positively injurious many systems of modern times. Men look in vain for the standard of right in self-interest, in utility, in feelings of benevolence, in pleasurable emotions, or in the dicta of unenlightened conscience--these are all shifting and uncertain, and, therefore, unfit to serve this purpose. But the Bible reveals an immutable and infallible standard. By general principles and specific precepts, by a comprehensive summary in the Ten Commandments, by the checkered and wonder-laden history of the chosen people, by the writings of inspired prophets and apostles, and by the incomparable lessons of the Lord Jesus Christ and by His spotless life as the incarnate God, the whole duty of man is enforced. Thus broadly and comprehensively viewed in relation to the moral government and culture of the world, who can doubt that God’s Word is “better than thousands of gold and silver”?
III. As an instrument of salvation to man. We may safely say that as a means of grace it surpasses all others. (D. H. MacVicar, D. D.)