May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Word. Let
us turn to the 119th Psalm and we will read verse 126. Psalm
119 and reading verse 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to
work. for they have made void thy law we might think reading such words
like this that the psalmist who we think was David was dictating
to Almighty God but in reality of course he was really praying
earnestly that such a blessing might be granted. And indeed
as we live in this day and age in which we live, where there
is so much opposition to the truth of God, so much opposition
perhaps in our own hearts, to realise the necessity of such
a prayer and not only the prayer but also the answer to such a
prayer. a prayer. It is time for thee,
Lord, to work. And it goes on to say, for they
have made void thy law. And how true that is today. Many people have made void the
law of God. Many, we might say, professing
Christians, have also made avoid the law of God because they have
not kept to the truth of God. But we read again in this psalm
where the psalmist says in verse 131, I opened my mouth and panted
for I longed for thy commandments. That means he longed for the
truth of God. He longed for the Word of God. And what a blessing it is if
the Lord should graciously come and return and bless us and bless
the Church of God with that ability to open our mouth, open our mouth
in prayer, to pray unto God. Sometimes I think of that word
the Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians when he said to
pray without ceasing. to pray often to God, so that
prayer may not just be a formality, just going through a rigmarole,
just doing that which we think is good and right, when it is
good and right, but may we be delivered from just formality
and blessed with reality. And so he was able to say, he
opened his mouth and panted. You know, it reminds me of the
earlier psalm when we read, as the heart panteth after the water
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee. Oh God. It's good, isn't it? To be found
panting after the things of God. and longing for the things of
God. So often we long for the valenties
of this world which will rapidly pass away. We see it, don't we?
All around us decay and change and yet to realise the Lord God
does not change. And what a blessing therefore
to be able to recognise the wonderful truth of God's Word. It's just
interesting, and you young people might just like to note that
in this 119th Psalm, the statement, thy word, or thy words, occurs
many times. I think it occurs about 42 times. Far more than it does in any
other part of the Bible. And yet how wonderful it is to
know It is the Word of God. That's why the Psalmist is able
to say again and again, Thy Word, that is a foundation for us. The Bible is our foundation. I hope it is your foundation. I hope it's what you rely upon. I hope it's what you go to in every time of need. What a
blessing it is that we have the Word of God. Can you imagine
what it would be like without the Bible, without the Bible
at all? And yet, you know, we should
think and go back in history, of course, until Moses wrote
those first five books of the Bible. There was no real written
word of God. They may have written down some
things, but generally speaking, it was word of mouth. And that,
of course, was for a good few hundred years, probably 1,500
years to the flood. Then after the flood and to the
time of Moses, And it wasn't until the end of Moses' life
that he wrote those first five books of the Bible. And again,
it's wonderful for you young people just to remember that
when he'd written it, and it would have been written on parchment
probably, and it was put into a roll, and there were the first
five books of the Bible, and they were placed alongside the
ark, in the tabernacle, as it was then, and after that, of
course, in the temple there was the Word of God those first five
books of the Bible and of course after that the Old Testament
books the remainder of them were gradually added until about 400
years before the time of Christ and then of course after Christ
the New Testament was written in perhaps the first hundred
years or so but there we have today then the Bible and initially
then of course it was only in Hebrew and Greek And the likes
of us would not have been able to have read it. But then, through
the Lord's great, wonderful blessing, the Bible was translated into
English. The glorious days of Tyndale
and Coverdale, etc. And then, of course, the King
James Version in 1611. And we're blessed today with
the Word of God in our language. Don't misunderstand the position
that you and I can read the Bible. Many could not read the Bible. Could not read the Bible. And
that reminds us perhaps of the situation with regard to Ghana. Our concern was we send Bibles
out to Ghana and then we realised that many people could not actually
read Many people could not even go to school. Hence the reason
really why the Savannah Education Trust
was formed. And it's been a blessing. Schools
have been built. Children can learn to read. Bibles have been distributed.
They can now read the Bible. And we're thankful for the evidence.
There are those who have been converted. So here we are today,
standing up and preaching and reading the Bible. What a great
blessing it is. Let us truly thank God that you
and I today have the Bible to read. And as we read it, the
Lord will give us a right understanding In the 130th verse in this psalm
which we read, this is what we read, the entrance of thy words
giveth light. You might say, well what is that?
Why is it light? The reason is that you and I
are born into this world spiritually dead with no spiritual light
and we are therefore spiritually dead and are in darkness and
what a great blessing if in your life and my life the Word of
God has entered in to our hearts and given us spiritual light,
spiritual light to show us what we are and to show us our need
of what we need and directing us to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now what we say this is, I'll
tell you what it is. It's all of grace. grace is a harmonious sound grace
is good news grace is the unmerited favour of God so therefore this
morning I wonder if you and I look into our hearts and we are encouraged
to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith or not to
examine ourselves to see whether This word of God is true. The
entrance of thy words has given light into our soul, and it giveth
understanding unto the simple. We don't have to be a person
of high academic ability, because the Lord applies the word to
the souls of the simple. And what a great blessing that
is. Now, what a favour For us today
then, to have the truth of God's Word and let us be very honest
and to examine ourselves as to what we think of the Word of
God. Do we think it as the Word of God? And are we pleased to
have the Bible to read? And do we read it because we
love it? That's why, as I quoted in prayer,
the words of David, how love I thy law. It is my meditation
all the day. What a blessing if you and I
love the Bible. Well, it may be that you and
I need God to work in our soul. And therefore, perhaps this word
is a prayer for us It is time for Thee, Lord, to work. To work in my soul. Because I've
been spiritually dead. I haven't understood what I've
read. I haven't understood what I've
heard. And yet now I realize there is
something I do need to know. And I do need to know that I
am born again of the spirit of God. And I do need to know that
Jesus Christ has come into this world to save sinners, that he
has come into this world to save me. I need to know this. What a blessing then. if you
and I possess the wonderful work, and it is a wonderful work of
the Spirit of God. There's a very simple phrase
to explain it, and it's this, sovereign grace or sin abounding. And so today, may we be able to truly praise God if there
has been a time in our life, and perhaps it's today, it is
time for Thee, Lord, to work. All of us, all of us need to
have the evidence of God's work in our hearts. It's not a theory,
it's a truth, it's a fact, it's essential and you and I are living
on this earth and because you and I are living on this earth
we possess a never dying soul which lives forever and therefore
we need to know the great blessing of God's grace and God's work
and the light of God in our hearts and if we know it, let us praise
God for it. And if we don't know it, let
us pray for it. Let us pray mightily for it. Again, in the Psalm of Moses,
the 90th Psalm, Moses knew the need for this. And this is what
he tells us in verse 16. Again, it's a prayer. Let thy
work appear unto thy servants let thy work it's not man's work
it's not your work it's not my work it's God's work let thy work appear unto thy
servants and he goes on to say and thy glory unto their children
Well, the glory of the Lord is revealed when the light of the
glorious gospel shines into our souls. It is then the glory of
the Lord appears. What a wonderful blessing it
is for us. And may we be concerned to observe
it and to know it and to rejoice in it. And Moses goes on to say
in the 17th verse, and let the beauty of the Lord, our God,
be upon us. Well, what a mercy it is, if
therefore our cry today is, it is time for thee, Lords, to work,
to reveal to my soul the beauty of the Lord. You say, well, what
beauty is there in the Lord? my friends, this beauty in the
great and wonderful work of salvation. The truth that the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world for the one purpose, to save sinners
from that eternal death, to bring to them everlasting light. My friends, what do we think
of Christ this morning? It's a good question, isn't it?
What think ye of Christ is the test. It's personal. It doesn't matter in one sense
what everybody else thinks. It's what do we think. And so,
here we have a statement, and let desires this and let the
beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish thou the
work of our hands upon us yea the work of our hands establish
thou it indeed we need to be established in the truth of God
there's not much establishing in the day and age in which we
live There's much shallowness in the things of God. There's little real personal
knowledge of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet He
is the one thing needful. And as the hymn writer says,
without Him I must perish. Let us not forget that. Christ
is needful. Every one of us, before we die,
must know the Lord Jesus Christ as our saviour. We must know
that he died to atone for our sins. We must know that he shed
his precious blood in order that our sins might be forever washed
away. These are not things which are
irrelevant. They are vital for every one
of us because we have an immortal soul which lives forever. Oh, then may the Spirit of God
come and instruct us and teach us. And so, therefore, is it
not true? It is time for thee, Lord, to
work, for they have made void thy law. They've counted it of
no value. And perhaps that's where we've
been. Perhaps that's where we are today.
I don't know. Perhaps we've said, well, the
things of God I don't care about. They're not very important anyway.
I want to live my life. I want to enjoy my life. I want
to enjoy the world. The things of the world pass
away. And if you want to have any encouragement in the truth
of that, you can read the Ecclesiastes. Solomon had the ability to do
everything he wanted to in this world and he tried everything
and he came to this conclusion all is vanity of vanity and vexation
of spirit. How did he come to that knowledge?
Through the work of the Holy Spirit. So this morning my friends
may you and I have a right view of these things and recognize
this desire. It's his time for thee, Lord,
to work, for they have made void thy law. David wrote the 107th Psalm,
and the 107th Psalm is a psalm of much instruction and it testifies
about the many providences of the Lord but in those providences
there is much instruction and we're told about the children
of Israel it's really much about the children of Israel how they
wandered through the wilderness which of course is a typical
picture of the Church of God today as they walk through the
world. And yet, David commences by saying,
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever. And having made that wonderful
and glorious statement, he then comes down and says, Let the
redeemed of the Lord say so. And that's good, isn't it? And
it's a test for all of us, isn't it, today? Whether that great
truth is that which we echo and that we acknowledge and that
we say. And he's speaking here, let the
redeemed of the Lord say so. The Church of God are not to
keep silent. Sad as it is, the Church of God
do often keep silent. Some of you will know that at
our prayer meetings we've just commenced where we're going through
the Thessalonians and the wonderful testimony that the Apostle Paul
was able to speak of the Thessalonians. And often we can just pass over
these things without recognizing the situation. Well, he tells
us towards the end of this first chapter, he says, And ye became
followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. so that ye were in samples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. They were examples
and it's good for us today. We read, don't we, in Ezekiel,
ye are my witnesses and here were these Thessalonians, wonderful
witness and he says for from you Sounded out the word of the
Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith to Godward is spread
abroad so that we need not to speak anything. A testimony of
these Thessalonians had gone before. And you and I today live
in this world What a blessing, therefore, if we are able to
give a good testimony to those that we come in contact with. Yes, to all those we come in
contact with. That's what these Thessalonians
did. For they themselves show us what
manner of entering in we had unto you and how ye turned to
God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for
his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus,
which delivered us from the wrath to come. Well, you might just
go home and read that first chapter in Thessalonians. It's a wonderful
testimony to the grace of God. It's a wonderful example to The
Church of God is an example to us today. You and I may have
read it many times. We may never have really read
it, just with our lips, but never has it entered into our hearts. Well, what a wonderful blessing
then, if we now have that real desire to hear the Word of God
and to testify what He has done for us. The Apostle goes on to
speak about their condition. What was their condition? What
was their condition? Naturally, it has a parallel
with our spiritual life. And this is what their condition
was. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. What did
they then do? They cried unto the Lord in their
trouble. and he delivered them out of
their distresses. And so today, may we cry unto
the Lord and say, it is time for thee, Lord, to work. O Lord, come and bless my soul,
because the Lord did come. And what did the Lord do? He
then led them forth by the right way. And the Lord does lead his
people by the right way. He led Israel by the right way.
Through the wilderness, 40 years they wandered around. He led
them. And what happened? He brought
them at last. They might go to a city of habitation. It's the same today. God leads
his people forth by the right way. In all of our lives, it may seem
the wrong way. Be assured the Lord never makes
a mistake. And so this is true. He led them
forth by the right way. And the reason was to bring them
at last to Canaan. And it is today to bring the
church of God at last to that city of habitation. Glory at last. Well, what a mercy
for us today if we can confirm the Lord is leading me by the
right way. And I have this real God-given
desire in my heart that to come and pray, and it's time for thee,
Lord, to work perhaps you don't feel quite like that perhaps
it seems a bit distant and yet this is the blessed Word of God
and it's here my friends for our encouragement for our blessing. And so it says, David, oh, that
men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful
works to the children of men. Well, I wonder, again, when was
the last time we praised the Lord, praised his company? You only have to read the last
Psalms, a whole number of them, filled with praise to God. Whatever
condition we are in, we have cause to praise God for His love,
for His mercy. And so this psalmist goes on,
he says, such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being
bound in affliction and iron. Well, sometimes we might feel
to be like that bound in affliction and iron not able to release
ourselves perhaps in the prison house and the door's locked and
we can't get out bound in affliction and iron and then you know the
psalmist gives the reason for that and it's good just to notice
this solemn reason the reason why they were there because they
rebelled against the words of God and contend the counsel of
those high therefore he brought down their heart with labor they
fell down and there was none to help so the Lord knows how
to deal with us what a blessing the Lord does deal with us in
love to our souls love to our souls And that's what it was. Hence the reason the psalmist
comes and says, it is time for thee, Lord, to work. For they
have made void thy law. They've turned their back upon
the Lord. Perhaps we've turned our back upon God. I don't know.
Perhaps you have. Perhaps you said, I will not
have this man to rule over me. I'm going to live my life. I'm not going to do God's will.
I'm not going to follow His commands. I'm going to please myself. Oh,
my friends, it's a solemn position. It's rebelling against the words
of God. It's easy to do it. But, you see, the gracious word
of God to us is David knew. He knew the history. And he knows what they did in
that condition. They weren't left. The Lord doesn't leave his people. He brings them down. But he also
raises them up. He says, therefore, he brought
down their heart with labor. They fell down. There was none
to help then. They cried unto the Lord, nowhere
else. Nowhere else. Sometimes we look
all around. My friends, it's the Lord. Then
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and He saved them out
of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness
and the shadow of death and we've just been told They were in the
shadow of death, they were bound in affliction and iron, and now
we're told that they were brought a break, their bands in sunder. The work of God. Only God can
do these things. God brings deliverance. You see,
when God brings deliverance, He gets the honour and the glory. You want me to look around for
secondary causes? It's God. who deserves and God
will have the honour and glory. Let us not forget, God is a jealous
God. God will have the honour and
glory and God brings us to a position where we desire to give him the
honour and glory because he's broken the bars of iron. And so you see David again comes
and says, Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness. Because when the Lord breaks
the bands of iron, it's His goodness. It's not because you and I deserve
it. It's not because you and I warrant it. It's because of
His goodness. And that's bound up in His love
toward us. Isn't that amazing? That God
should love such a person who's rebelled and contend the counsel
of the Most High. And yet the Lord, in love to
our souls, has brought us to this place of blessing. And just one final example from
this wonderful 107th Psalm. We're told for he commanded and raiseth
a stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof they mount
up to the heaven they go down again to the depths their soul
is melted because of trouble they reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man and are at their wits end that's a pretty
clear description isn't it of someone in very considerable
distress If you've seen a drunken man reeling to and fro, they
know they can't really control themselves. But then, in that
condition, then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble. And
He, He and He alone bringeth them out of their distresses. And what do we read then? That
storm which they were in, that storm in their soul. He makes
the storm a calm. Why? Because they know the Lord
is with them. Remember the disciples in that
stormy sea and the Lords came and said, peace be still. And
there was a calm. Yes, and so it is in our spiritual
life. And the result, then are they
glad because they be quiet. So he bringeth them unto their
desired haven. And of course, the desired haven
is glory at last. Now then, it's God that gives
us a desire after heaven. By ourselves, we're happy to
live in this poor old sinful world. But it's good when the
Holy Spirit directs us to the glory of heaven, to the peace
and joy and eternal happiness, to realize
there's a rest that remaineth for the people of God. And the
Lord is with us here. on this earth as we journey on. Well, it is time for thee, Lord,
to work, for they have made void thy law, have discounted the
great truths of God, have not really gone to the Word of God. You know, in times of trouble,
in times of affliction, trial, spiritually and naturally sometimes,
we don't really go to the Word of God. We have it there, and
yet we look to secondary means for the blessing it is when we
know that the Lord is our God. And as David says further on
in this psalm, great are thy tender mercies. It's good, isn't
it, to think of it in that way. Tender mercies. The love of our
God is tender toward us. We don't deserve it. Tender mercies. That's our God. That's the God
that we have. What a blessing then. Great are
thy tender mercies, O Lord. And he says then, quicken me,
make me alive according to thy judgments. make me understand
the Word of God, the truth of God, the way of God, how ignorant
we often are, how foolish we are. And sometimes we, perhaps
like the hymn writer says, peevishly cry out, how hard's my lot? And yet you see the path of the
righteous is a path that brings the church of God, every member
of it, safely home to their desired haven. What a mercy it is then. You know, the very last verse
in this 119th Psalm, we read this, I have gone astray. like a lost sheep now David's
speaking here he's speaking personally he was a child of God he was
a true believer and yet he was honest enough to be able to confess
I not you I I've gone astray like a lost sheep he didn't want
to stay there seek thy servant Seek thy servant. He wanted to be found. Remember
that lovely parable the Lord Jesus gave of those hundred sheep
and the 99 were safely there, but there was one that wandered
away. And the Lord went after that
one. The shepherd went after that
one. And when he found that sheep, put it on his shoulders and carried
it back to the flock. Well, the compassion of God,
you see, when we're lost, when we wander away, we get fatigued,
we get tired, we lose our strength, and we need the power of God
to restore us. Remember, power belongeth unto
God. What a mercy, then, if we are
amongst those who the Lord is dealing with in love, don't forget
that, in love to our souls, and causing us to understand this
truth. It is time for thee, Lord, to
work. It may have been a long time
getting there, we may not have wanted to acknowledge it but
what a good thing it is when we bow down before God and acknowledge He is our Lord
and our Master He is to us the King of kings and Lord of lords
to a natural king people bow down and worship What a mercy
when you and I stand before the King of Kings and moved by his Spirit, by his
grace, we bow down and worship the Lord as our Lord and Master,
as our great and glorious Redeemer, as that one who shed his precious
blood upon Calvary's cross to redeem my soul. Surely the result
is, we have to come and say, what a Saviour, what a God, who
looked upon me, unworthy me, and indeed delivered me from
the wrath to come. Well, it is time for thee Lord,
to work, for they have made void thy law. If perhaps we turn our
back upon God, if we look to other directions, may we have
this great concern, this great desire, this blessed prayer to
come to our God in all humbleness and say it is time for thee,
Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law. Amen.