Getting Ready for Midweek Service

There is both an art and a science to sermon preparation. It's a science, in that there are rules and principles you should follow in order to get it right. But it's also an art. More specifically, it's a mystery. Ultimately, it's a God-thing. I am being reminded of that this week as I prepare for our midweek service tonight. I am working on Psalm 119:97-104. I was planning to preach it last week. But I just didn't have enough time to work through it. So I preached a message on prayer from Philippians 1:9-11 last week. And you would think that the extra time I have had with this text would make my work easier this week. Nope. This reminds me of something that a friend of mine says, "You've got to do whatever the Lord says do in order to be ready to preach" Or something like that. But I thank God for the time I have spent with this passage. It's about the wisdom and walk of one who loves the word of God. And I have been challenged and convicted by the testimony of the psalmist. May the Lord use me as a mouthpiece for the text tonight to call our congregation to intentionally fall in love with the word of God.