Let us commence our service by
singing together hymn 643. The tune is evening hymn 709. Again, dear Lord, we would be
fed. We come to seek for living bread
and feast on love divine. Dear Father, let thy presence
be enjoyed by all thy family. and make each face to shine.
Hymn 643, tune Evening Hymn 709. O kindred, Lord, we will defend
we come to seek for living bread and peace on earth divine. If Father let Thy presence be,
Enjoyed by all Thy family, And may each face to shine In the open sands where they
wait Come then and heal our souls and feet, and let us feast in
Thee. O let us thank thee, be the King,
and love, and pray, and praise, and sing Earth comes from bondage free. May faith be strong and peace
the skies, And we with pleasure realize ? The glory now prepared ? ? Commune
with Jesus as a friend ? Upon him give his love, obey, and
honor things described. If this be granted, we'll adore
the hand that gives and keeps in store. the boundless star of grace. In every time our feet will cry,
and thou shalt go A face so fine, and half with smiling face. I ask us to turn together in
God's holy word this evening to Psalm 25 and Psalm 27. Psalm
25 and then Psalm 27. Unto thee, O Lord, Do I lift up my soul? O my God,
I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not
mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on me
be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress
without cause. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach
me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach
me. for Thou art the God of my salvation. On Thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, Thy tender
mercies and Thy loving kindness, for they have been ever of old. Remember not these sins of my
youth, nor my transgressions. According to Thy mercies, remember
Thou me for Thy goodness' sake. O Lord. Good and upright is the
Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek
will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are
mercy and truth, and to such as keep his covenant and his
testimonies. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon mine iniquities, for it is My iniquity for it is great.
What is man? What man is, he that fears the
Lord. Him shall he teach in the way
that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease,
and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord. he shall pluck my feet
out of the net. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy
upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my
heart are enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my
pain, and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies, for they
are many, and they that hate me with a cruel hatred. O keep
my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed, for I
put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness
preserve me, for I wait on thee. Redeem Israel, O God, out of
all his troubles. Psalm 27. The Lord is my light
and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked,
even mine enemies and my foes, come upon me to eat up my flesh,
they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after. that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of
trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his
tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted
up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in
his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will
sing praises unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer
me. When thou saidst, seek ye my
face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek.
Hide not thy face far from me, put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave
me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father
and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach
me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of
mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the
will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen up against
me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted unless I had believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait
on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine
heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. May the Lord add to us the blessing
of his word and may we be helped to continue in prayer. Almighty God, we bow before thee,
that once again at the throne of grace, We thank Thee, Lord,
for the privilege of prayer. We thank Thee for another opportunity
to come together under the authority of Thy holy word and to worship
Thee. We thank Thee that we come unto
Thee, the true and living God, the God that made the heavens
and the earth, the God that has given to us life, the God that
has given to us health and strength, and the God that has given to
us a desire and an opportunity to be found here this evening. We thank thee, Lord, that we
can come under the influence of thy Holy Spirit to worship
thee in spirit and in truth. And we ask, Lord, that our hearts
may be prepared and ready to receive thy word, that we may
come before thee in reverence and in godly fear. Lord, we ask
that we may be taught how to pray this night, that thou knit
us together in the unity of the Spirit, that our will may be
the same as Thine will, that we may offer up those prayers
and requests that are pleasing in Thy sight, that we may witness
the answers to our requests. Lord, we do thank Thee that Thou
art God who is abounding in mercy. We thank Thee, Lord, that Thou
art God of truth, that Thy truth, it changes not. We thank Thee,
Lord, that we can come to Thee through Thy beloved Son, our
great high priest, whoever lives to intercede for us. We thank
thee, Lord, that we have been given a desire to be here this
evening, and we pray, Lord, that as we have gathered together,
as we have come out from the world for a little while to fix
our minds upon eternal things and to worship our creator, we
pray, Lord, that we may receive the blessing of God. We come,
Lord, to worship thee because thou art worthy of our worship.
We come to sing thy praises, we come to bow down at thy feet,
and we come, Lord, desiring, as those in the Scriptures, sir,
we would see Jesus. And we pray, Lord, as we come
unto thee, Lord, that thou draw near also unto us, that thou
grant us a blessing in our own souls, a token for good, that
we are indeed beloved of God, We pray, Lord, for those who
have come in this night seeking for that confirmation that they
are indeed loved with an everlasting love. We pray, Lord, that thou
hear in heaven thy dwelling place, that thou draw near unto them
and encourage them in the way. Lord, do draw near and speak
to them words of comfort, that they may know that they are indeed
loved in Christ Jesus, that their sins, which are so many, have
been washed away in that fountain open for sin and for uncleanness.
We pray, Lord, for those who have come in seeking guidance
and direction, thy people who have been concerned about the
way that thou hast them to go. Lord, we pray that thou grant
them that prompting of thy spirit, that guidance and direction,
that they may hear thy voice, that this is the way, walk ye
in it. Lord, we pray that thou grant
us each those humble hearts, hearts that have that desire
to know and to do Thy will. Lord, we pray that Thou wouldst
submit our own will unto Thy will, that we may be like Thy
beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who cry, nevertheless not my
will, but Thy will be done. We pray then, Lord, for that
humble mind and that pacified of will to walk in the pathways
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, that Thou wouldst
bless each who have gathered with us. Lord, we thank thee
for the young ones and we pray for them. Lord, thou be with
them. Go before them in their schooling. Go before them, Lord,
in their summer holidays. We pray once again for their
safety. Thou keep them and watch over them in these holiday periods
to keep them, Lord, from the peer pressure of life. Do keep
them from being drawn aside by the many temptations that there
are in this world. Lord, do keep them both in mind
and in body. Thou protect them from the tricks
and traps of Satan and the lures of this world. We pray for parents,
that thou grant them great wisdom. Help them, Lord, to raise their
children in thy knowledge and in thy fear. Help us, Lord, as
we Come around the family altar as we read thy word and seek
to explain it unto them. As we pray over our families,
Lord, we ask that thou hear in heaven thy dwelling place. We
know, Lord, that there is only one thing that is truly needful
in life, and that these little ones may sit at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ and to learn of him. We pray then, Lord, that
thou hear our cries, that thou work in their lives, that they
may be born again of thy Holy Spirit and to walk worthy of
the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do, Lord, we do pray
that thou guide them in their lives, that thou help them in
the decisions that they have to make regarding college and
universities and their future employments. And as they seek
for husbands and wives, we pray, Lord, that they may be guided
that they may submit to thy will in all of these things and commit
their way unto thee. Lord, we pray for them then that
they may be blessed, that they may know the Lord, that they
may know thy leading and guiding, and that they may have that desire
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, for those who
labour in the workplace to encourage them and go before them, provide
for them, grant them that strength needed. We pray, Lord, for thy
people as we go into the world day by day, as we have to be
in the world but not of it. We pray, Lord, for that grace
needed, that wisdom that is needed, that help that is needed. We
pray that thou help us to be faithful, keep us from foolish
conversation, to be drawn aside by the conversation of the wicked.
Help us, Lord, we pray, to be like shining in a dark place,
faithful witnesses of the Lord Jesus. And Lord, we pray for
those who are self-employed amongst us to provide for them all needed
work and strength and health as they labour to provide for
their families. We pray that they may see thy
hand in that provision, that they may see thy leading and
direction and help them, Lord, in their labours, we pray. We
pray, Lord, for our older brethren, that thou be with them and encourage
them. Do be with them, Lord, as their bodies begin to show
the age, the frailty of life, to encourage them, we pray. We
pray for those who struggle with the lack of assurance of their
salvation. We ask, Lord, that thou undertake
for them, grant them that confirmation that they are indeed loved, that
death has lost its sting. We pray, Lord, that they may
not fear the grave, that they may have that faith to look beyond,
to view by faith, thy beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We
thank thee that he has gone to prepare a place for his people,
and he will come and he will receive them unto himself. And we ask then, Lord, for that
faith to be granted, that they may be encouraged in their latter
days. We pray, Lord, for our brother
here who passed us, Mr. Rutt. We thank thee, Lord, for
him and for his labours here and amongst the churches. We
pray that thou continue to Grant him all needed health and strength
in body, mind and spirit. We pray that thou guide him through
thy word as he seeks to preach the word. Do grant him, Lord,
that ability to rightly divide the word of truth and encourage
him, we pray, as he may see signs following the ministry, that
the word may go forth with power, that it may enter into hearts
and it may bear fruit. for thy honour and for thy glory.
We pray, Lord, that thou revive this place, if it could please
thee, that thou work in this village roundabout, that thou
constrain those who pass by and those who live near to be drawn
into this place, that they may hear the word of life and live. Lord, we ask that thou have mercy
upon the village. Do not deal with them as they
deserve to be dealt with, Lord, but we ask that In thy wrath,
remember mercy. Do revive this place again, we
pray, if it could please thee, for thy honour and for thy glory.
We see, Lord, multitudes heading into an eternal wrath, having
no concern for their souls, having no fear of the grave, having
no fear of thee. Lord, we would pray that their
eyes may be opened, that they may realise the frailty of life
and the greatness of eternity that spans
beyond the grave. O Lord, do work, we pray. We know, Lord, that it is not
by our might nor by our power, but by thy spirit. And we pray
then, Lord, for an outpouring of thy spirit as we have seen
the rain falling this day. O heavenly Father, we pray that
that spiritual rain may pour down and that there may be that
great growth, that new growth unto thee. that there may be
that great harvest, Lord, in this village for thy honour and
for thy glory, that will raise up a people in this village,
that they may show forth thy praise. And Lord, do grant us
a true heart, a true burden for that, if it could please thee,
Lord, we pray that thou'd encourage thy people. and Lord, encourage
us to petition thee at the throne of grace. We know, Lord, that
thou art God who is willing to pardon, thou art God who is an
abounding in mercy, thou art God who is most graceful, Lord,
and we pray that thou then have mercy on this village and this
land of ours. Remember our leaders, oh Lord,
do wake them up to their to their accountability before thee as
the leaders of this land. We pray, Lord, that they may
realise, they must give an account on that great day of how they
have led this land of ours. And we pray, Lord, that they
may turn again unto thee and that they may live, that their
eyes may be opened to the consequences of their sin. Lord, we pray that
thou move in our government to turn this nation once again to
the scriptures. We pray, Lord, for each of those
who minister thy holy word. Do, Lord, encourage them and
help them. Help them, Lord, to be bold and
to be faithful. Help them, Lord, not to fear
man, but only to fear thee. Help them, Lord, to preach the
word and to be in season and out of season. Help them to be
faithful, we pray. and do encourage them. We pray,
Lord, for others as we look at the extent of this nation. For, Lord, the harvest is truly
great, yet the labourers, they are so few. And, Lord, we have
been commanded to come unto thee and to ask that thou send forth
labourers into the harvest. O Lord, we come unto thee, the
Lord of the harvest. And we see, Lord, that the labourers
are indeed few. Even in our denomination, Lord,
the labourers, they are few. The congregations, they are few.
O Lord, we ask that there may be that building up, that gathering
in, the moving of thy spirit, that there may be men burdened
with a fire in their bones, that the word of the Lord may go forth
with power and authority into the hearts of sinners, that they
may look and that they may live. We pray for our persecuted brethren,
throughout the world. We pray for the war-torn parts
of the world. O Lord, have mercy, we pray.
Remember our brethren in Ukraine and suffering there because of
the war, Lord, to encourage them and help them. We pray for those
in Nigeria and Syria, Lord, to have mercy. We pray upon them,
encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ as they suffer death,
as they suffer loss, as they suffer bodily harm. Lord, have
mercy upon them and encourage them, provide for them and keep
them safe, we pray. Lord, we ask then that thou continue
to build thy church, for it is written, Lord, thou wilt build
thy church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
We ask, Lord, that thou continue to go forth with power as a mighty
conqueror, going into the kingdom of darkness and gathering thy
people and bringing them into the light, the kingdom of light,
that they may see the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that they may look to thy son and that they may live. Lord,
we pray that thou encourage thy people. Help us, Lord, as we
labour. Help us as we live a life in
a crooked and perverted generation. Keep us, Lord, from temptation. Help us to flee from the devil. Help us, Lord, to keep away from
any appearances of evil. Help us, Lord, to be aware of
the tricks and traps of Satan. Keep us, Lord, from lukewarmness. And keep us, Lord, close to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray. that they'll help
us to run with patience the race that is set before us, looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to lay aside every
sin and every weight that so easily besets us. Lord, do show
us those besetting sins, show us those character weaknesses,
enable us to crucify the lusts of the flesh, to put to death
our old nature. O Lord, we pray that Thou help
us to pursue after holiness and godliness and the fruit of Thy
Spirit. We pray that it may be manifested
in each of Thy dear people's lives. And Lord, we pray that
we may know Thy blessing once again. We ask, Lord, that thou
draw near to us, enable me to speak in thy name. We pray, Lord,
that thou pour in, that I may be able to pour out, that thy
people who have come in hungry and thirsty, that they may feed
from thy holy word, that they may be strengthened, Lord, to
continue on that narrow way that leads to life. We pray, Lord,
that this evening we may grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus. We pray, Lord, we may be shut
in with thy Son, with thy Spirit. Lord, we ask that thou draw near,
that our hearts may burn within us this night. You forgive us,
we pray, of our sin, of our doubts and fears, of our failings, and
do make up, Lord, we pray, as we ask it in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us continue by singing together
hymn 714. The tune is Belmont 101. Why so cast down, dejected soul? A loving Christ is near. By broken bones he can make whole,
and drooping spirit cheer. Hymn 714, tune Belmont 101. I saw a stone, ejected stone,
A holy Christ is near. Thy broken bones, He can make
whole unto His Spirit's will. If empty, stink-tide, conscience-fill'd,
Have haste, ye through and through, Cross back slightly, Christ can
hear, And to Mary freely turn. If justice rolls its flaming
sword, The kings will turn to hail. On Jesus call, and trust His
word, And thou shalt praise Him still. Thy sacred temples may beat us
at night and solitas. On our soul an epilogue makes the Lord His trust. Dear Jesus, you, thy shining
face, earth, heaven, and earth, with love, Display the power of saving grace,
And cheer the troubled heart. Refresh his eye with sweeter
light, and place love in his ear. Thy soul is prayer, God's been my sight, and He hath
helped me. Once again, with the help of
God, I'd like to draw your attention to the second psalm that we read
together, Psalm 27, and the text you'll find in verse 11. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies. We read through the psalms They
are very experimental, they enter into the multitude of the experiences
of the people of God. There are times when the psalmist
is down in the depths, there are times when the psalmist is
pursued with enemies, there are times when he is anxious and
afraid, there are times when he seeks to comfort himself and
seeks to speak to himself, to encourage himself, in the things
of God and the Psalms have been of a great benefit and a great
comfort to the Lord's people throughout the Old Testament
and throughout the New Testament and they are the living inspired
Word of God and today they still bring great comfort and help
to the Lord's people. Sometimes we can feel like we
are on our own in our life's experience that Nobody else has
been through what we are going through. Our experience is unique
and different to everybody else's and we come to the Samas and
we find that the Samas has passed that way before. We find that
the Samas has entered into our spiritual experience, that the
Samas has entered into our physical experiences of life and they
bring that great comfort and that great help. to the Lord's
people. We are thankful for the Lord
Jesus Christ, that great high priest who ever lives to intercede
for his people, that he has tried and tested in all points as we
are, yet without sin he understands our frame. He has passed through
the experiences of our lives and he knows the frailty of our
bodies and we are thankful that we can come to him As he intercedes
for us, we can come to the throne of grace. We can unburden our
hearts before him. And he has granted to his dear
people, the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the teacher, that
he will take the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and reveal
them unto the Lord's people, that he will open up their understanding
to the scriptures, that they may feed and benefit from the
word of God. David was a man who knew much
of the experiences of life. He knew what it was to be king
of Israel. He knew what it was to be a shepherd
boy. He knew what it was to be fleeing
from his enemies. He knew what it was even to be
fleeing from his own son and the difficult life that he had. He knew what it was to be anointed
to be king and yet have to flee for his life from King Saul. And those things that he experienced
and that he passed through, he wrote them down for Israel and for the church to
come. And here we have in this wonderful
Psalm, Psalm 27, the Psalm of David. He begins by declaring
all that the Lord is to him. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? He knew the
greatness of God. He knew how powerful and almighty
his God was. He knew he was Jehovah, the God
who has no beginning and no end, the God who created the heavens
and the earth, the God in whom there is no darkness. He understood
that his God was a God of light, a God of truth, and that he was
the God of his salvation. It was him who had redeemed him
from the sins of his youth. It was him who had brought him
from the darkness into the light. It was him who was leading him
and guiding him as his shepherd. It was him who was delivering
him from the very different circumstances of life. Not only is He a God
of salvation to deliver people from their sin, but also He is
the God of salvation to deliver them from the difficult circumstances
of life, the enemies that were before David. He was surrounded
by wicked enemies. They came upon Him. He felt like
they were wanting to eat Him, to consume Him. But He understood. that he had his confidence in
God. He desired to be with the Lord. He desired to seek after the
Lord. He desired to dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of his life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire at his temple. Know that David, as we
read through the accounts of scripture, had that desire. to
build the temple. Yet the Lord, through his prophet
Nathan, he was unable to do so, but he still had that desire
to bring the temple, to bring the ark into Jerusalem. He had that desire to gather
the people of God collectively around the ark. to worship the Lord. He had that
desire to see Israel praising the one and true living God,
the God who he trusted in, the God who he had proved to be faithful
even in the most difficult situations of life. Even when David couldn't
understand all that God was doing, the situations of life were completely
perplexing to him. He did not know why he was fleeing,
why he was going this way, why Saul was after him. There were
times in our life, and often it is in Providence, that the
Lord does strange and mysterious things in our lives. They are perplexing things to
us. We cannot see the end of where
the Lord is leading. We cannot see the end of the
situation that we are passing through. That is where we need
to walk by faith. That is where David had to rest
upon his God, that God who is sovereign, God who is eternal,
knew exactly what he was doing. He was his saviour. He had delivered
him. He was his strength and he had
no reason to be afraid because the Lord was leading him and
guiding him and directing him. As we read the beginning of this
psalm and the other psalms, it may come as a surprise that David
begins to ask the Lord to teach him. You may think that David
knew everything about God, He declares that he is his light.
He declares that he doesn't need to be afraid. He declares that
he wants to be in the house of the Lord all the days of his
life. It's as though David knows everything about God. Yet he
still declares that he needed teaching. Teach me thy way, O
Lord. In the experiences of David's
life, There are times when he was very isolated and lonely. In verse 10 it says, when my
father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me
up. David had experienced the goodness
of God. He had experienced the Lord anointing
him as king, yet he experienced the difficult and trying circumstances
of walking out the will of God in his life. He experienced isolation
and persecution, and yet he understood that when he was abandoned, when
he was alone, when he was at his wit's end, When it was, as
it were, even his father and his mother, the
closest ties of nature, had abandoned him, then he knew that the Lord
would still be there. We know that this world is overshadowed
by death. And there are times in life when
our mothers and fathers and those closest to us must pass away. But we know that the Lord will
never pass away. We know that his word is an eternal
word and he is an eternal God. And although people close to
us and near to us may abandon us and may be taken from this
world, yet the Lord is still there. He says, although they
forsake me, although they forget me, although they leave me, yet
the Lord will take me up. Though he felt abandoned and
alone, yet he knew that the Lord was with him and that the Lord
would gather him up and take care of him. There are times,
aren't there, when it seems like, as we say, the bottom falls out
of our well. things take place and they're
so shocking, so difficult, they happen in a moment. But the scripture
tells us that underneath are the everlasting arms of God and
the people of God cannot fall out into an abyss of abandonment. They fall into the arms of a
loving God who knows exactly what he is doing, who knows exactly
why he is doing what he is doing. And as he did in the life of
David, we can trace the goodness of God through the experiences
of David. That God was working out his
purposes for his own glory. Yes, it was hard and difficult
for his servant, yet it was needed and essential for him to make
him trust and rest in the true and living God. He desired to
continue to be taught the things of God. If you remember the Lord
Jesus Christ, as he was going to leave this earth, as he was
going to be crucified, and he promised, he told his disciples
that he was going to go away, he tells them in John 14, do
not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also." And so he tells his
apostles that he's going to leave them. Their hearts are filled
with sadness. but he tells them that he's going
to give them the comforter, that he will not leave them comfortless,
that he, I will come to you. I will pray the Father, and he
will give you another comforter. Christ had been that physical
comforter to them. He'd walked with them for those
three years. They'd sat at his feet. They'd
been his disciples. He had taught them all that they
needed to know. and yet he was going to go away.
But he says, I'm not going to abandon you, I'm not going to
leave you as orphans, I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit who
is the Comforter of God, the Spirit of Truth, and I will come
to you. Jesus tells us, doesn't he, where
two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be in the
midst of them. Christ's Spirit, the Holy Spirit
of God, he meets with his people, he indwells with his people. The Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, which the Father will send in my name, he will teach
you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto you. And we see as the Lord Jesus
Christ is crucified upon the cross, The apostles, they all
fled and left the Lord Jesus. They abandoned him, but he had
not abandoned them. They couldn't understand. Even though the Lord Jesus has
explained to them exactly all that was going to take place,
yet they could not grasp it with their carnal minds. And it's
the same with us. Christ has told us that it is
through much tribulation you must enter the kingdom of God.
And when those tribulations enter into our lives, we believe, oh,
the Lord has abandoned me. He has left me. I'm alone. I'm like a sparrow on a housetop.
I'm at my wit's end. We forget the goodness and the
greatness of our God. But He has told us and warned
us, all these things, they are going to happen to you. But be
of good cheer, be of good comfort. I have given you the Holy Spirit,
the Comforter, who will take the Word and He'll bring to your
memory the things that I have taught you. And as Christ, as
He ascends up into glory, He opens up the understanding of
His apostles. to the Scriptures. They're emboldened,
they're strengthened, and they go forth preaching the unsearchable
riches of Christ, experiencing persecution and oppression and
martyrdom all for the sake of the Lord Jesus. He had not abandoned
them. As David was not abandoned, the
Lord was with him. although his natural friends
abandoned him, yet his God was faithful. When thy father and thy mother
forsake thee, then the Lord will take thee up. Teach me thy way,
O Lord. The word teach shows that there
is something that he didn't know, something that he wanted to know. By our nature, we have no desire
to know anything about God. We have no desire to be taught
the things of God. We are, as the prodigal son on
a life that has rejected the existence of God and we are only
interested in the things that the world can teach us and show
us. Those things that are tangible,
those things we can touch, those things we can hear, those things
we can see. We're on, as it were, a destructive
path. The scripture tells us, the Lord
Jesus Christ tells us there is a way, there is a broad road
that leads to destruction. And there is a narrow way that
leads to life. Proverbs tells us there is a
way that seems right unto a man. At the end of that way, it is
death. David had a desire to be taught
It was something that he didn't know, that he wanted the Lord
to teach him. He wanted to be taught in the
ways of the Lord. As he sees his natural peers,
his natural relations abandon him, as he sees that the Lord
has taken him up, we see that he is brought into a relationship
with God. those sinners that were once
estranged from God, had no desire to be taught the things of God,
but rather listen to lies and listen to the truth. Through
the work of God's Spirit, their hearts are changed and they are
brought nigh, they are brought near by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Those who were afar off are made
nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus. and they are adopted into
the family of God. David says, when my father and
my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. By our nature, we are orphans. We are without God. We are separated
from God. We walk this earth in the darkness.
We walk this earth separated from a heavenly father. As Jesus says, you are of your
father the devil. But there is that new desire
that the Lord has taken them up, gathered them to himself
in Christ Jesus. And they are now given that desire
to say, teach me thy way. Years of listening to lies, now
there is that desire to listen to the truth, to know the truth. They come to the understanding
of there are things that I don't know and I desire to know them. Hungry and thirsty, they seek
after righteousness. Hungry and thirsty, they seek
after the truth, the way, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I
am the way. David says, teach me thy way,
O Lord. In the other psalm that we read
together, Psalm 25, there again he is expressing similar thoughts. He desires to be shown the ways
of the Lord. Show me Thy ways, O Lord, teach
me Thy paths, lead me in Thy truth, and teach me, for Thou
art the God of my salvation. On Thee do I wait all the day
long.' That is his new desire, he's gone his own way, he's been
on that broad road that leads to destruction, now he's on this
narrow way that leads to life, and he desires now to be shown
the ways of God, to walk in the pathway, the highway of holiness,
to be led in paths of truth and righteousness and godliness. He desires to be taught by the
blessed Spirit of God. No longer is his heart hard to
the things of God, but he's now been made sensitive and subtle
to the truths of scripture. He says, thou art the God of
my salvation. Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my transgressions. Good and upright is the Lord.
Therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he
guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach in his way. All the paths of the Lord are
mercy and truth, and to such as keep his covenant and his
testimonies, the meek will he guide?' Jesus says, blessed are
the meek, blessed are the meek, those who have been pacified
by the Spirit of God, no longer hard-hearted and self-willed
but now they have been pacified by God's Spirit falling down
at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle Paul, Lord
what will thou have me to do? A heart that is changed no longer
self-willed but subject to the will of Christ, guided and directed
by his spirit. Teach me thy way, that our desire
this night. We come here this evening to
be taught to fall humbly under the authority of God's holy word,
to be guided and directed by the truth of Scripture, as the
Spirit of God takes the Word of God and applies it to our
lives? Do we fall under the authority
of God's Word? Do we have a humble and a teachable
spirit? David says, teach me thy way,
God's way, not my way, not your way, not
David's way, but God's way. God's way is the way that leads
to life. It is eternal life. It is through
his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God's way, and
it is the only way. Jesus says, no man can come unto
the Father, but through me or by me. It is God's way. Teach me thy way, O Lord. If we desire to be taught the
way of God, then we desire to know what the will of God is. By our nature, we want to do
our thing, we want to go our way. But if we come to the throne
of grace, if we come to the word of God with a humble and a teachable
spirit desiring to know what the way of the Lord is, that
means we are falling under the authority of God and his word
and we are desiring to do his will and not our own will. David, as he wrote that Psalm
23, He declares the Lord is my shepherd,
teach me thy way. He desires that the Lord would
go before him, guide him and direct him, lead him in those
paths that are right and pleasing. He desires to go to those green
pastures to find rest and to drink from those still waters. He desires that his soul would
be restored and satisfied. Yes, through the valley of the
shadow of death he understood that the good shepherd was with
him, guiding him and going before him, but he should fear that
he should fear no evil. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
lead me in a plain path. Teaching and leading. Show me the way, but don't abandon
me. You're someone you may stop and
you may, as it used to happen in days gone by, you may stop
and you may ask somebody for directions. And they would say,
you go down the road, do a left, do a right, and then you'll come
to your destination. It is being taught the way. But
David wanted more than just being taught the way. David wanted
the Lord to lead him in that way. He wanted the Lord to go
before him, the Lord to walk with him, the Lord to make him
walk down the easiest and the best pathway, not just to be
taught, but to be led. As Moses, he said, if thy presence
go not with us, carry us not up hence. He was not just content
with ascending away, but he wanted to be led and guided. He understood
his frailty and his inability, his weakness. And so it is with
the Lord's people. We have the word of God, we understand
what the will of God is, we desire to be guided and directed in
our lives by God's revealed truth, but we don't want to walk it
alone. We want to know that Christ is with us, that he is walking
with us and we are walking in his will, in his way. We desire to know his presence
and his help and his ability. There are times in our lives
when there seems to be great mountains and obstacles in our
pathway. David says, lead me in a plain
path. lead me in a level way. He didn't want mountains, he
didn't want crookedness, he wanted the straight path that leads
to life. He says, I have enough problems
with the enemies that are around about me, please let me walk
an easy and a plain path. The scripture tells us that those
mountains shall become a plain. Those mountains that are before
the Lord's people, those things that they perceive that are before
them, that are impossibilities, that they are nothing in the
sight of a holy God. Those great obstacles, impossibilities
will flow down at the presence of God. And if we have to pass
through those great difficulties of life, then we are promised
that strength and that ability to continue day by day. He desired a plain path. The
scripture tells us those crooked things that shall be made straight. So David asked to be taught,
then he asked to be led. If we're going to be led, then
we must be humble. You cannot overtake the one who
is leading you. You must follow. Jesus tells
his disciples, follow me. To follow is to walk behind.
It is to submit to the fact that you don't know where you are
going and that the leader in front knows and you have to walk
behind him. There's this story of the two
shepherd boys in Scotland. The snow came early one winter
and the sheep were still on the mountains. And the two brothers,
they said, well, we have to go and we have to bring the sheep
down from the hills. And the older brother, he went
first and the younger brother, he walked behind his brother. And as he was walking behind,
as his brother began to walk faster, he was left behind. And
he realized that the further away he walked behind his brother,
the more difficult it was for him to walk. He was more affected
by the snow. He was more affected by the wind.
And the closer that he walked to his brother, the brother took
the weight, took the force of the wind, the force of the snow. And so he found by walking closer
to his brother, walking in the steps of his brother, the easier
it was for him to walk. You and I, The more we distance ourselves
from the Lord Jesus Christ, the more lukewarm we become, the
harder our Christian pathway becomes. The harder it is to
follow the Lord Jesus, the harder it is to bear the heat and burden
of the day, the harder it is to bear the difficulties that
are brought into our pathway. We find that when we do distance
ourselves and we do drift away from our beloved saviour, he
will bring something into our life. He will bring a storm into
our life, not because we are orphans, not because he doesn't
care about us, but because we are sons and daughters of his.
Therefore he brings these trials, these things, persecutions into our
lives to cause us to draw closer to him. Desires a plain path, but a path
that will cause him to walk closely to the Lord Jesus. to be taught by the Lord Jesus
Christ, or even to be desired, to have
that desire to be taught, shows that you're a disciple
of the Lord Jesus. A disciple is one who sits at
the feet Remember the Apostle Paul, he sat at the feet of Gamaliel. The disciples of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the disciples of John, they sat at the feet of their
teacher to learn of him. Remember Mary and Martha, how
careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful
and Mary has chosen that better part. Where was she? She was
sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and learning of
Him. She says, teach me thy way, O
Lord, and lead me in a plain path. Is that our prayer this
night? To sit at the feet, to look up
to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, teach me thy way. I don't
want my way, I want thy way. I don't want my will, I want
thy will. I want my will to be knit together
with thy will. Oh Lord, oh Jehovah, the great
God, lead me and guide me and direct me. I don't want to make
wrong choices. I want to be guided and directed
by the Holy Spirit of God. I want to be guided into that
right college. I want to be guided into that
right university. I want to be guided into that
right job. I want to be guided to the right
husband, the right wife. I want to be guided to a right
home. I want to be guided throughout
my days. I don't want my own will. I want
to know the will of my maker. I want to know the will of the
Lord. And I want to be led and guided in all truth. When my father and my mother
forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me thy way,
O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of my enemies. And may the Lord grant us a humble
and a teachable heart, a heart that wants to know what is thy
will and not my will, a heart that has been made sensitive
and submissive to the authority of God's holy word and has that
desire to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, not to go before him,
but to follow him, to walk closely to him. As David says, the Lord
is my shepherd. Yes, though he walked through
the valley of the shadow of death, yet the Lord was his shepherd. He would fear no evil for the
Lord was with him. And the Lord is still with his
people even this day. Although friends and family may
abandon them, Although loved ones may pass to the eternal
world, yet the Lord remains faithful and close to his people. Underneath
are his everlasting arms. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. Our enemies,
they are many. Satan and the kingdom of darkness
is always opposing. Persecution and difficulties
are there to oppress, but the Lord will lead his people and
will bring them through, that they will be with him in glory.
Jesus says, don't let your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you I go to prepare a place for you. May the Lord add his
blessing. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 570. The tune is Wiltshire 268. The Lord on high his love proclaims
and makes his goodness known to men deserving endless pains
he gave his only son. Hymn 570, tune Wiltshire 268. Lord, on high His love proclaims,
And makes His goodness known. Her name deserving endless fame
He gave His only Son He gave His Son that I may to
save and from despair. From death and hell to strife
and grave, In glory to the King. For we are good in Jesus' blood,
And freely his bestow'd. The souls of the dead themselves
can cry for help to come. Oh, dear souls, dry up your tears,
Thou let it be your case. If thou shalt May the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God the Father with the fellowship and
communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you each now and for
evermore. Amen.