Well, once more let us turn to
the 119th Psalm. We're very near at the end of
it. This evening we'll speak on verses 169 to 172. Psalm 119,
verse 169 to 172. Let my cry come near before Thee,
O Lord. Give me understanding according
to Thy Word. Let my supplication come before
Thee. Deliver me according to Thy Word. My lips shall utter praise when
Thou hast taught me Thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy
word, for all thy commandments are righteous. We mentioned before that in this
wonderful psalm, those words that we read here in this statement,
thy word, is actually recorded 39 times in this psalm. And here, in these four verses,
It's recorded three times. And how dependent the psalmist
was on Thy Word. He recognised it was the Word
of God, it was Thy Word. And how good it is for us today
to have the same confidence and to come to God in the same way
that the psalmist did, with that real desire Let my cry, let my
prayer come before Thee, O Lord. He had a need. As we read in
that 32nd Psalm, 35th Psalm rather, he had a need. And it's good
when we have needs. We always have a need. We don't
always realize it. But it's a good thing when we
do. And when we're able to come like this, and say, let my cry
come before thee, O God. It's not to come before anyone
else. No one else will understand. No one else will appreciate. No one else will be able to answer. But may we have the same humble
confidence that David did. Let my cry. Again, it's personal,
isn't it? Our prayers Our personal, let
my cry come before thee, not before anyone else. Oh Lord,
the great Jehovah, the ruler of the universe. And then he
comes and says, give me understanding according to thy word. Again,
it's wonderful to recognize the statement that is made here.
He wanted understanding, but he wanted a spiritual understanding. And he wanted an understanding
in accordance with the Word of God. He didn't want any understanding
that was just a figment of his imagination, just something that
was pleasant to realise, but here it was personal and he wanted
the understanding and he wanted it according to the Word of God. My friends, what a blessing that
is and how we should want and desire and pray earnestly that
you and I might have an understanding in accordance with God's word
and not go beyond what God's word tells us and not try and
put our own understanding on anything. Sometimes it's a temptation
but you know the more we know of God's word the more we study
God's word the more we will have a right understanding of God's
Word. And so, give me understanding
according to thy Word. It's a good prayer, isn't it?
Let my supplication come before thee. Deliver me according to
thy Word. Again, wonderful direction. Because
we do come into times when we need deliverance, perhaps in
natural things, perhaps in spiritual things he doesn't ask for a natural
understanding he asks that his supplication might come before
thee to deliver him according to thy word he wanted to walk
up and down in the scriptures he wanted the scriptures to direct
him and what a blessing it is because the scriptures are so
comprehensive And what do they do? If we have eyes to see, they
direct us to the glory of the Saviour. They direct us to His
life. They direct us to His sufferings. They deliver us to how He was
delivered and what He endured that you and I might be delivered.
And again, it comes down to these simple statements, according
to Thy Word. The words in these few verses
are very direct, but they're very simple. And we should be
very thankful that our gracious God has given us a simple word
to understand. And he comes down there and says,
my lips shall utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes. See, if God gives us understanding,
he'll give us the teaching that we need and that teaching will
align with the laws and statutes of the Word of God. My lips shall
utter praise because as God shows us the glory and the beauty and
the blessedness in the statutes of his Word, it will open our
spiritual understanding and it will cause us to utter praise
to God for showing to us unworthy sinners the great truth of scripture
that which is hidden that which the psalmist said the secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will show them
his covenant well it's a lovely statement isn't it my lips let's
not forget that we don't hide it it's not just in our mind
our lips shall speak our lips should utter praise. And if God
has taught us, it's good to praise him. It's good to acknowledge
what he's done and given us understanding. Whereas we might be able to say,
whereas I was blind, but now I see. He's given me spiritual
sight. And then not only his lips shall
utter praise, he comes and says, my tongue shall speak of thy
word. Well, unless we know God's word,
we won't be able to speak of God's word. But what a blessing
it is when we do know God's word. And it's familiar to us. And
we're able to speak it. My tongue shall speak of thy
word, for all thy commandments are righteousness. Everything
that God has is pure and good and righteous. You know, we read
that 35th prayer, that 35th Psalm, the prayer of David. The last
verse we read was, and my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness,
And of thy praise, when? All the day long. All the day
long. It's a great example for us,
isn't it? It's the Word of God, it's not my words. And what a
blessing it is that the Lord has given us this as a glorious
pattern in our little lives, so that as we now walk upon the
earth, we may speak those things, testify of those things, which
shall bring honour and glory to our God. Well, four quite
short verses tonight, but my friends, full of gracious and
wonderful instruction. May we truly rejoice in them.