Well may God instruct us from
his word. Now once again let us turn to the 119th Psalm and
this evening we'll speak on verses 93 to 96. So Psalm 119 verses
93 to 96. I will never forget thy precepts. for with them thou hast quickened
me. I am thine, save me, for I have
sought thy precepts. The wicked have waited for me
to destroy me, but I will consider thy testimonies. I've seen an
end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad. Again we see in these verses
really the mind of the Lord in the heart of the psalmist as
he comes and speaks and tells us, he says, I will never forget
thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened me. And we can
believe that means that from the truth of scripture, this
truth of scripture which of course the psalmist had when he was
on the earth, which of course as I've said a number of times
was really very small by comparison with what we have today. But
quite clearly the word of God penetrated into his heart and
he tells us the precepts which he doesn't forget they had made
him spiritually alive now we live many years after these words
were written and yet the Lord God and his great mercy and love
still uses the same form he still causes his word to be that which
gives us spiritual life And truly, the Church of God are made aware,
do come to a glorious and blessed understanding that they have
been made spiritually alive. And because of that, those scriptures
which have been the means of doing that, they can't forget. We don't forget those things
which God has done for our souls. what a mercy it is and what an
evidence it is we forget many things in our lives and sometimes
we have the privilege of being at the deathbed of the saints
of God sometimes their memory may be very wavery but again
and again it's very evident that they still remember the great
truths of God by which they were made spiritually alive and so
may we indeed with the psalmist be able to say I will also never
forget thy precepts for with them thou hast quickened me and
then he goes on with confidence really and he says I am thine
now if the Holy Spirit has touched our hearts and if the Holy Spirit
has therefore made us spiritually alive. We do have the wonderful
evidence in our hearts that we are the Lords, that the Lord
God hasn't passed us by, but he's stopped, and he's said unto
our soul, live. And to therefore be able to come
humbly, as I'm sure the psalmist did. He doesn't come with any
pride. He says, I am thine. What a blessing
if you and I tonight can come and say by the grace of God,
I am thine. And these are not things which
you and I want to just pass by. We want to have the wonderful
personal evidence that we are a child of God and what a mercy
then if God shows us and gives us to believe that we are and
then he goes on and you may think this is strange having confessed
that he is the Lord's and now he says save me well my friends
we constantly need to be saved from the evil things of our own
heart, our own nature. We need to be saved from the
many temptations of Satan, who endeavours to destroy our faith,
to take away any hope that we have. And we can then therefore
understand why the psalmist comes and says, save me. Oh yes, you
and I need to be saved, perhaps from an evil heart of unbelief. How often the devil desires to
make us concerned about our hope, our little hope, and perhaps
he hopes we'll throw it overboard. Well what a blessing it is if
that little hope is embedded in our heart because it's given
to us through the grace and glorious mercy of Almighty God. And he
says, for I have sought thy precepts. He was seeking the Lord's way. He was seeking the Lord's blessing. He wasn't passing it by. No,
he still wanted to have the evidence that the Lord was with him and
that he was walking in accordance with the precepts of God which
are set before us in his Word. And so we see him seeking, praying
that he would be enabled to be blessed with these precepts.
And so may we have the same concerns, the same desires to be spiritually
alive and to walk before our God in the light of his countenance. The wicked have waited for me
to destroy me. And there are many temptations
the devil lays in our path in an effort in a desire to destroy
our faith. But let us remember the great
truths of God. Those that wait upon the Lord,
those are the ones whom God indeed will hear and God will be with
and God will encourage. It does mean that we have the
evil one and the wicked, his servants, waiting to try and
destroy us. My friends, let us realise, as
the Psalmist says, my hope is in the Lord. And may that ever
be so. We do have to battle through
life. The enemy is there, trying to
destroy our faith. But what a blessing if we are
found waiting on the Lord and are able to say, as he does,
but I will consider thy testimonies. the truth of God's Word. The many wonderful accounts we
have of God supporting his people as they travelled on, gave them
strength. You only have to read the book
of Daniel to see how he strengthened those men in his day, and Daniel
himself, to stand firm against all the temptations. How easy
it would have been to listen to the Commands of the king but
no they listened to the Word of God And so he says but I will
consider thy testimonies Well, what a mercy that is and then
he goes on finally and says I have seen an end of all perfection
but thy commandment is exceeding, exceeding broad. You know, the
Apostle Peter knew very much by personal experience the work
of God in his heart, the love of God in his heart, the keeping
power in his heart. And that's why he's able to write
his epistles. And in the first epistle, and
in the fourth chapter we read, But the end of all things is
at hand. He knows that there will be an
end, and you and I know there will be an end. Be therefore
sober and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent
charity, fervent love among yourselves. For charity or love shall cover
the multitude of sins. And it's a great blessing if
you and I are able to observe God's amazing love toward us. And if we have some realisation
of what a blessing it is and how undeserving we are It'll
give us that desire to love one another, to love the brethren,
realizing they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to
go on our way rejoicing and thankful for His Word. I've seen an end
of all perfection. There will be an end. but thy
commandment is exceeding broad. It's not narrow, it's broad,
it's comprehensive, and it's good when you and I understand
it. And then there's finally, he says, when he wrote to the
Romans, that's the reason we read that 10th chapter. It's
a very wonderful chapter, really. And in that, he says this, for
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. We have God's
law. We cannot keep that law by ourselves,
but to realise, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. And what a wonderful blessing
if you and I have been given grace to believe the gospel,
to believe the glorious words which it contains, commandments
of God which are exceeding broad and rejoice in what Christ has
done so that his name is lifted up and our souls are eternally
blessed. Well my God, bless