God willing, as follows. Mr Paul
Hayden will preach here next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Mr Joseph Woodhams will preach
here on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. There will be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. The collections and online giving
during June amounted to £2,480. and donations to the book fund
were £45. We sincerely thank you for your
continued support of this cause of truth. Let us commence our
services today by singing together hymn number 545. The tune is
Lausanne 944. Truly that poor soul is just, who by faith in Christ can trust,
in him live, upon him rest, as the Lord his righteousness. Sins
as foul as hell he'll find, rising up against his mind, nor will
Satan spares to say, he has quite mistook the way. Hymn 545, tune
Luzon 944. ♪ To thee that host all is just
♪ ♪ Hear my prayer in voice and trust
♪ She came with her loving breast,
As the Lord his righteousness sent, As far as men can find, I stand up against his power. Lord of Satan, strength to save,
He has confessed to the grave. Chained with all the sins of
time, Jesus has been your light and shine. Light for light, the
praise of heaven, Send back to him all his praise. When he comes
to Bethlehem, ♪ They shall praise him, praise
his name ♪ ♪ For it's a bell-tollen name ♪ Shepherds watch the rifles shine,
Heavy crates of fate defy, ♪ He from faith to faith shall
come ♪ ♪ Telling of a Christ shall come ♪ ♪ That when he is
died to die ♪ ♪ To thee I sing, land of the free ♪ ♪ With the goldfish
in their belly ♪ ♪ We shall rise to endless day ♪ Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Book of Psalms, first Psalm 51 and
then Psalm 130. Psalm 51. to the chief musician, the Psalm
of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone
in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions, wash
me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil
in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shaping in iniquity,
And in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which I has broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from
my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not
away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with
thy free spirit. will I teach transgressors thy
ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,
O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud
of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips, and
my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not
sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure
unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness. with burnt offering and whole
burnt offering, then shall they offer bullocks upon mine altar. Now let us turn to Psalm 130. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But
there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I
wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning, I say, more than
they that watch for the morning, let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all
his iniquities. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come. We desire to bow before thy glorious
majesty. We desire grace to pour out our
heart unto thee. We desire grace, O Lord, to confess
our sins. and we desire repentance and
godly sorrow for sin and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We
would seek grace, O Lord, to lay aside every weight and the
sin that doth so easily beset us, that we might run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame thereof, and is now
set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. May we keep that glorious view
of faith in our hearts, in our minds, that when we are done
with this world of sin and woe, there is that glorious place,
those mansions in the skies, reserved for thy people. O most
gracious Lord, may we ever be found looking and hasting unto
the great day of the Lord. We do humbly beseech thee that
we may, as it were, leave this sinful world and its sinful treats. For we find, Lord, we have the
world within our hearts. We have corruption in our nature.
We have uncleanness in our very being, and we come in humble
confession of our sins and of our sinfulness and pray, most
gracious Lord, to be delivered from our iniquities. How often,
Lord, we have to cry with the apostle of old, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.
And we prove, O Lord, it is so, but as we've read in thy word,
but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Oh, we pray, most gracious Lord,
for thy forgiving love, for that precious mercy that flows through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, the very fountain of thy mercy and of
thy grace, may we be partakers of that fountain that is open
for sin and for uncleanness. Its sinners can say, and none
but they, how precious is the Saviour. O Lord, we constantly
feel our need of Thee. We constantly feel the sinfulness
of our nature. And that which we would, we do
not, and that which we would not, we do. And we find a law
within our members that when I would do good, the neighbor
is present with me. But Lord, our hope is in thee.
We would wait upon thee. We would watch unto prayer. We
would pray for a sacred experience of the forgiving love, of the
redeeming love of our Lord Jesus Christ to be shed abroad in our
hearts. that we might know and feel and
realise he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for
our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
then forgive all our many sins. Wash us in that precious blood
of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. May we feel the
wonderful power of that blood May we feel the wonderful power
of that word. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. O most gracious Lord, our hope
is fixed on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. We do pray that they will remember
us as a church and as a congregation, that they will remember our brethren,
the deacons, and give grace, wisdom, and help in every time
of need and remember each one of our brethren and sisters in
church fellowship, and graciously bless us together, O Lord, we
do beseech thee. And bless us with light and understanding
in thy word. Bless us with the spirit of love,
that we may love each other, serve each other, bear each other's
burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. O, do hear us,
Lord, we pray thee. Make us a truly spiritually-minded
people. And while our days on earth are
lengthened, may we give them, Lord, to Thee. May we live unto
Thee. May we forsake all other and
follow Thee. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we pray
Thee, for Thy great namesake. Remember, Lord, the little ones
and the children. We thank Thee for them. Do bless
them indeed. Do bless them with the fear of
Lord. Do bless them with light in their
understanding, even though but little children. Oh, we think
of those wonderful words, Lord Jesus, that thou didst speak.
Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not,
for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Remember the young friends
and graciously bless them, bring them to living faith in Jesus
Christ, make them true followers of Thee and of those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises. We thank Thee for returning
home, our friends, and pray that Thou wouldst be with those that
have gone away from us. Lord, we do pray that Thou wouldst
remember parents and give wisdom and grace to bring up their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Lord, remember all
in the midst of the journey of life, and grant, O Lord, thy
richest blessing to reach their hearts. Remember the prodigals
that have wandered away. Stretch out thy almighty arm.
May we know that joy when one and another is gathered in. Remember
this village. Send out the glory, light and
power of the gospel into this village. We do humbly beseech
thee. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children. O Lord of hosts, O
God of Israel, O thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Massa and come and save us. Let
thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand. the Son of Man, whom
thou madest strong for thyself, so will not we go back from thee. Oh, do hear us, O Lord, we pray,
for thy great namesake. Remember us with the favour that
thou bearest unto thy people. Visit us with thy great salvation. Be with thy servants as they
come in and out among us, especially in these coming two weeks. Graciously
grant that they may dip their foot in oil and be made acceptable
unto thee, brethren, and the word preached may be in power
in the Holy Ghost and with much assurance. O Lord, we do pray
that thou wouldst hear our entreaties. Remember those of us that are
now in the evening time of life's journey. and graciously prepare
us for that great change which must come. Remember all in affliction,
trouble and trial and perplexity, that those in darkness bring
them into light, that those in bondage bring them into liberty,
that those far off make them nigh. Lord, let thy work appear
unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children, we do humbly
pray thee. And, O Lord, we do pray, remember
all thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the
walls of Zion. Grant that they might know that
fresh anointing of the Spirit of God even today, and the opening
of the word, and signs to follow the preaching of the word. Dark
and solemn days, O Lord, when iniquity abounds on every hand,
and unrighteousness and sinfulness. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
arise in thy Zion. For Zion is bruised and brought
low, that those may bear thine holy arm in the gospel. O, do
hear us arise, arise, O God of grace. Into thy rest descend
thou in the ark of thy strength. and let thy priests be clothed
with salvation, and thy saints shall shout aloud for joy. Lord,
abundantly bless the provision of thy house and satisfy her
poor with bread. Remember, O Lord, those that
go forth from among us, among the nations of the earth. Remember
Ian Sadler and that great work he does in the distribution of
Holy Scripture and the exposition of it and the orphanages he runs,
supply all his every need, grant good success. Remember the Mombasa
mission and thy servant that labours there, supply their needs
and bless them and grant the outpouring of thy spirit among
them. Remember the Savannah Education
Trust and that great work that they're doing in Ghana and do
supply all their needs and and do richly bless their endeavours
that it may redound to the great glory of thy holy and precious
name. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
remember thy people in those nations in the earth where the
name of Christ is hated and where thy people are persecuted, imprisoned,
even unto death. Lord, send them help from the
sanctuary. Strengthen them out of Zion,
Lord, we pray, for thy great name's sake. And, O Lord, remember our leaders,
and grant wisdom and guidance and direction, and grant that
their eyes may be opened to that which is right and good and acceptable
to them. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
bless our King and all the royal household with that rich grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Oh, do hear us in heaven, thy
holy dwelling place. We thank thee for every mercy,
for every favour freely bestowed, freely given from thee. Thou
openest thine hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
We thank thee for the glories of Christ, the wonders of redeeming
love, that perfect holy life he lived as a man here upon earth,
fulfilling thy holy law, bringing in everlasting righteousness
for thy people. We thank thee that he took our
sins and he now them to his cross, and that he has put away sin.
For by one offering, he hath perfected forever all them that
are sanctified, We do thank Thee, O Lord, for these wonderful glories
of our most holy faith. We thank Thee that Thou didst
die for our sins, rose again for our justification, and has
ascended into glory and sitteth at Thy right hand. We have a
great High Priest. We bow in humble adoration, thankfulness
and praise for Thy wonderful glory, for the love of our Eternal
Father, for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Come and bless us, Lord,
we pray. For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 385. The tune is Blessedness. 301. Hear gracious God a sinner's
cry, for I have nowhere else to fly. My hope, my only hopes
in thee, O God, be merciful to me. Hymn 385, Tomb Blessedness,
301. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ♪ Oh, how I love her ♪ ♪ And her
to die ♪ ♪ I love her, I love her ♪ ♪ In the afternoon clear
♪ ♪ O come, O come, Emmanuel ♪ ♪
O come, O come, Emmanuel ♪ ♪ O come, O come, Emmanuel ♪ ♪ And pray for mercy at my door
♪ ♪ Take me, my God, at your word ♪ O come ye, O come ye, O come
ye to Bethlehem. ♪ As Spirit the King ♪ ♪ And Spirit
the Lamb ♪ ♪ In prayer you'll sing ♪ ♪ Of Him that weepeth
♪ ♪ O come, O come, Emmanuel ♪ ♪
O come, O come, Emmanuel ♪ ♪ And call me home ♪ ♪ And take
this child ♪ ♪ That she could love ♪ ♪ By day by day ♪ ♪ Come, Thou holy ♪ ♪ Virgin, come
to me ♪ ♪ To Thee I come ♪ ♪ Worship Thee ♪ ♪ And through the love that's all
my strength ♪ ♪ Ever forgiven, teaching faith ♪ ♪ And the home he has built up
to me ♪ ♪ To thee I come ♪ ♪ Long have I longed ♪ ♪ And been
distressed ♪ ♪ But then at last ♪ ♪ The Lord appeared to me ♪ O come, O come ye, O come ye
to Bethlehem. ♪ And evermore thy praises proclaim
♪ Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I direct your attention to Psalm 130, Psalm 130. We will look at the whole Psalm. We notice in the beginning, out
of the depths, have I cried unto thee, O Lord, O Jehovah. We notice in capital letters,
out of the depths. I thought much yesterday in thinking
of this psalm and I thought of the Lord's servant Jonah. And he said, I went down to the
foundations of the mountains. Of course, that was when he was
in the belly of that great fish. And while he was there, in the
very depths of the ocean, and at the very foundations of the
mountains, we hear this, yet will I look again to thy holy
temple at Jerusalem. Yet will I look again, out of
the depths. We don't read of anyone else
in that sense, in literally going into the very depths of the ocean. But Jonah did. Now naturally
speaking, three days and three nights in the belly of a whale
or a great fish would kill you. There's no oxygen down there. People often cavil at the fact
that the fish swallowed Jonah, but they don't look at scripture.
What did the scripture say? The Lord had prepared. There
was a special hiding place for Jonah in the belly of that great
fish and the Lord had prepared that would keep him alive. Jonah
said, all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Out of the
belly of hell cried I unto thee. That's where he felt it to be.
the belly of hell, darkness. He thought it was the complete
end of his life. He's a strange character, Jonah.
The Lord sent him to Nineveh, that great city, to preach repentance
unto them. But instead of going to Nineveh
He went in absolutely the opposite direction and went to Tarshish.
He ran away from what the Lord commanded him to do. Of course, Jonah would have known
that he's God over all. He confesses it when he speaks
to the ship master, the God of heaven and earth and ocean. but the Lord had prepared that
fish and the work that had got to be done there in the depths,
in the bowels of the earth, to bring Jonah to his senses, to
bring him to repentance, to godly sorrow for his rebellion against
his God. Jonah was one of the Lord's servants. And when we read that, how that
he said, yet will I look again, what was it the temple at Jerusalem? My beloved friends, it was the
wonderful mercy of the blood of sprinkling, the wonderful
mercy of a sacrifice that was yet to be offered, that those
sacrifices that he was familiar with pointed to the Lord Jesus
Christ. A door of hope opened wide in
Jesus' bleeding hands and side. That's what it pointed to. See this is what we read here
in the book of Psalms and deep, I believe it's in Psalm 44 if
I remember correctly or 43 and we read why art thou cast down
it's actually in Psalm 42 and it says in verse 7 deep calleth
unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts all thy waves and
thy billows are gone over me deep calleth unto deep says in
the Previous verse, oh my God, my soul is cast down within me.
The Psalmist was in a deep place. Therefore, while I remember thee
from the land of Jordan and from the Hermonites, from the hill
Mizer, deep calleth unto deep. What does it mean? Well, it is
the very essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're looking
at Jonah, And he cried unto the Lord from the very, what he considered
to be the belly of hell. It was to him. Yet when I look again, look at
the depths of trouble and trial that Jonah was in. But what did
he look to? The Holy Temple at Jerusalem. The precious blood that was shed
There's a deep calling unto deep. There's the deep of Jonah in
the depths of his trouble and trial. And then there's the deep
of Jesus Christ, the King of glory, the tremendous deep of
Gethsemane, the tremendous deep of Calvary, the tremendous deep
of the blood of the lamb, the tremendous deep of that glorious
offering, for by one offering, he hath sanctified forever all
them that are sanctified. He's redeemed them. He's delivered them. You see
a poor sinner in the depths of his wretchedness, of his helplessness,
of his hopelessness, of his worthlessness, of his insufficiency. There's
an answer in deep, my beloved friends. And that answer in deep
is in the finished work of Jesus Christ. It's in the savior of
sinners. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
ye shall find rest for your souls. You won't find it anywhere else,
poor sinner. You'll only find it in Jesus Christ, in his precious
blood, in his glorious righteousness. That's the answer in deep, in
Zion, in the church, the temple of the Lord deep calleth unto
deep at the noise of thy water spouts all thy waves and thy
billows are gone over me yet this is the voice of faith in
the midst of all that felt helplessness and hopelessness yet it's what
I call the yet of faith Yet the Lord will command his loving
kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be
with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. Yet. You know, friends, we have here
in this beautiful little psalm, it's one of the seven penitential
psalms. To become a penitent, You have
to become a sinner. To become a penitent, you have
to be convinced of your sin. And when the Holy Spirit convinces
of sin, you'll understand something of the language of the psalm
that we have before us. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice. There's a sense of urgency here,
friends. There's a sense of great need.
Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. One of the surest evidences,
my beloved friends, of spiritual life in the soul is prayer. When The Lord Jesus stopped Paul
or Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. We read, behold, he prayed. I've got no doubt, thousands
of times Saul of Tarsus had prayed, but not a real prayer, not from
the very depths of his soul. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
He'd been brought up. a Pharisee, he lived as a Pharisee, he prayed as a Pharisee, but
now there was something different. See the Pharisee has never been
convinced of his sin. He's never been brought face
to face with reality that he is a poor, hell-deserving sinner. That is the trouble with the
Pharisee. He doesn't know himself. His prayer is, I thank God that
I'm not as other men are, even as this publican. I do this,
I do that, I do something else. In actual fact, friends, there's
no prayer there. Indeed, the Lord Jesus, he says
in that parable, he praying with himself. His prayers didn't go
beyond himself. The prayer of any Pharisee doesn't
go beyond themselves. Their religion is self-centered. You know, Hannah, in her thankfulness unto the Lord in
Samuel, when Samuel was given to her, and she said this, concerning
the Lord he killeth and he maketh alive. And that's what God does
in the heart of a poor sinner. He kills them to all hope in
themselves. That work of the Spirit in the
heart to the flesh is mortifying. That word mortify means to kill.
It's a mortifying work, a killing work. and it will bring you into desperate
places. Desperate places. What must I
do to be saved? You look at the depths of the
harrowing situation that the Philippian jailer found himself
to be in. The prisoners were all free and
he knew he would have to give an account that all these prisoners
were free. So he took his sword and he was
going to fall on his sword. That was how desperate he was. Paul cried out, do thyself no
harm. And the jailer was brought there,
what must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? One answer to that friends, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That was
Paul's answer to the jailer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And by the wonderful grace of
God, he did. And he was delivered. The Lord
set him free. Spiritually, he and all his house
were wonderfully blessed of God. And they were baptized. You see,
The Lord knows how to deliver. You see there again, it's a wonderful
illustration of that, what we've just looked at in Psalm 42, deep
calleth unto deep. Here is the deep of the Philippian
jailer in despair. But here is the deep of a crucified
Savior, of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that
cleanseth us from all sin. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice, let thine ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications. There's an urgency here. And
when the Lord begins that work in your heart, there's an urgency.
And often with the Lord's people in that first stirrings of spiritual
life, it was because The Lord brought them into circumstances
where they were completely out of control. That's exactly what
happened with the Philippian jailer. Completely out of his
control. What must I do to be saved? Or
is there one here and you've come to chapel today and that
is the prayer of your heart. What must I do to be saved? Now there's that lovely word
of exhortation in the Hebrews chapter 12. He says, let us therefore lay
aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us.
That's a trial to the child of God, sin. It's a burden. It will be a burden all the days
of their life. They will feel and know that
they have a corrupt nature. And it's this way that they learn
Christ. Because the Holy Spirit constantly
gives them to feel that they're sinners. And they feel the need
of a saviour. They feel the need of redeeming
love. They feel the need of the precious
blood of the Lamb that cleanses from all sin. They feel unrighteous. They feel the need of that glorious
everlasting righteousness of Jesus Christ. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities. O Lord, Who shall stand? Who shall stand? You know, I
felt drawn to that other penitential psalm, probably the most well-known,
although many of the old commentators, the Puritans, they say that Psalm
130, Luther said it, Psalm 130 is the chiefest of the penitential
psalms. We're very familiar, aren't we,
with Psalm 51. But what a beautiful psalm to
poor sinners. This is what Luther said. The
penitential psalms are for poor sinners, poor needy sinners,
poor wretched sinners, poor undone sinners, poor ruined sinners,
poor hopeless sinners. Have mercy upon me, David, there's
only one thing he could plead, have mercy upon me, oh God. David knew the way of the Lord. As we read together a psalm of
David when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone
in to Bathsheba. Up until that time, David had
been trying to cover his sin. And in covering his sin, he sinned
even more. He sent Bathsheba's husband to
death. He purposefully did it. You see, and he has to confess
that here in this psalm. His need of God's mercy. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness. That loving kindness that he
had known in days past according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me truly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. David was a man well experienced
in the things of God. There are those that have this
strange view that once a person becomes a believer, it's all
happy and light and wonderful. But you know, it isn't like that. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, it's
through much tribulation that you shall enter the kingdom.
And a lot of the tribulation of the living child of God is
found in this, indwelling sin. And this is what David had here,
he fell into sin. He committed adultery and then
he committed murder. Solemn deep place he was found
in, wasn't he? For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. That's after Nathan came to him.
Up until that time You've been trying to cover it up, hide it. That's our natural reaction to
do that. But if we're brought to real repentance, godly sorrow
for our sin, we shall understand a little of this Psalm 51. For
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
And then this confession against thee, against the Lord Jehovah,
against the mighty God, against the God of all my mercies, against
the God of love, who brought me hitherto, this is David. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned, and done this even in thy sight." It's brought literally
down to between David and his God, against thee and thee only
have I sinned. done this even. He was made to
feel his wickedness that thou mightest be justified when thou
speakest and be clear when thou judgest. Then he confesses his
original sin. He confesses what is at the root
of his nature and every child of God is brought to know this.
Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me. He is speaking there of the nature
that he was given from his parents. He was brought to acknowledge
that he was a sinful man. In sin did my mother conceive
me, not that she sinned in conceiving him, but that the child she has
is a sinful child. And it's the same of every child
born into this world. We're born in sin, we're shaped
in iniquity. You see, my beloved friends,
do we know anything of this? David, he speaks here and he
says, "'Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. "'Wash
me and I shall be whiter than snow.'" Why? Because he felt
defiled. make me to hear joy and gladness. Why? Because he
didn't feel joy and gladness at this time. He felt deep conviction
of sin. He knew and he felt and he realized
he completely let down his God. The God of all his mercy, the
God who'd loved him with an everlasting love and he opened his sin. The bones which are as broken
may rejoice. In under, and this is a spiritual
language, the bones which are as broken may rejoice. Whom the Lord loveth, he chastened.
David was under deep conviction of sin, and he felt like broken
bones, broken bones are very painful, they are. Make me to hear joy and gladness
that the bones which are as broken may rejoice hide thy face from
my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Iniquity is the word
that refers to original sin. Original sin. We hear in this
psalm that there are several words used, isn't there, in Psalm
51? In the first Verse it says, blot out my transgressions. Why? Because he'd broken the
holy law of God. The word transgression means
a boundary. The boundary is the holy law
of God. And he'd broken God's holy law. He'd transgressed that
boundary of God's holy law. And the Lord made him deeply
feeling. Of thy tender mercy, blot out
my transgressions. Then in verse 2, wash me through
you for mine iniquity, that's from original sin and cleanse
me from my sins, there's original sin and actual sin and in a deeper
or lesser degree each one of the Lord's people are brought
to feel this, that they're sinners. I often feel a companion with
that little hymn, defiled I am indeed, defiled throughout my
sin. I often feel that, when we feel
rising up within us, that corruption that is in our heart. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity
and in sin did my mother conceive me. David, he cries here, what
a beautiful prayer in verse 10, creating me a clean heart, oh
God, and renew a right spirit within me. He wanted it renewed.
He'd known it, he'd known forgiveness. He'd known what it was to be
washed and to be accepted in the beloved, but now he felt
totally defiled. creating me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me. He knew that God would
be just to cast him away forever, so he prays, cast me not away
from thy presence, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. He knew
that God would be just if he was to do that. Restore unto
me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. You see he goes on and he says
in verse 16, for thou desire is
not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delight is not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit. How is our spirit broken? You know with most animals, when
they tame an animal, they don't want to break its
spirit. But they want to tame it so it will do what you want
it to do. But often with a horse, when
they are really feisty horses, you have to break their spirit
before you can do anything with them. And you look at that in a spiritual
way. See the sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit and a broken and a contrite heart, oh God,
they will not despise. Broken and a contrite heart. Contrition, the hymn writer says
then, contrition is granted and God justified. But what is contrition? Submission. brought to see to realize and
to know and if my soul was sent to hell thy righteous law approves
it well. In other words God would be just
if he was to damn my soul forever. A broken and a contrite heart. Oh God they will not despise
and you know friends that is where Jonah was brought in the
belly of that great fish, a broken and a contrite heart. When the
great fish vomited him up onto dry land, he was in a place,
you know, where no human arm could ever reach him. He was
totally isolated. And the Lord does that with his
people. He brings you into a situation where you are totally isolated.
No human arm can reach you. It's where the Lord brought Jonah.
And when the fish followed him out onto dry land, the word of
the Lord came a second time unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, go
to Nineveh, that great city, preach the preaching that I bid
thee to preach. You see, he was humbled. He went. He had a broken and
a contrite heart. How? Because of that great storm,
and because of being taken into that place of despair and utter
darkness. But then we have this beautiful
word, verse four in our text. But there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. What a lovely word, isn't it? A young man preaching in the
days of Dr. Owen. And Dr. Owen was questioning the young
minister about how do we approach unto God. And he said in a very
glib way, we're approaching Jesus Christ. And through Jesus Christ
and through the blood of the media. Of course, the young man
was absolutely right. But Dr. Owen said to him, young
man, he said it was many years and I'd been preaching Christ
for many years before I knew that truth. And on this Psalm
130, Dr Owen wrote a whole volume in an exposition of this Psalm
130, because in verse four was the first time that Christ was
truly revealed experimentally unto his soul. And he'd been
preaching for years, until the Lord opened his eyes. And it
was these words that opened his eyes, but there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared. The mercy there is. He is a holy God. He is a righteous God. He will
not at all equip the guilty. No, these words come from Holy
Scripture. But He's also a God of mercy.
He's a God of justice. He's also a God of mercy. He's
the God of all grace. But there is forgiveness with
Thee. that thou mayest be feared. And so what does this produce?
Because this produced a hope in the heart of the psalmist,
didn't it? But there is forgiveness with thee. So what happened when
this hope was raised up in his heart? I wait for the Lord. This is what produced it, this
revelation to the soul, but there is forgiveness with thee. There
is a who can tell. Who can tell that the Lord will
be gracious to such a poor, wretched, dying sinner? And therefore,
that soul, truly wrought upon by the Spirit, is brought to
wait upon the Lord. Wait in prayer, wait in expectation,
wait in longing, wait in hungering and thirsting, after the Lord's
mercy, after the Lord's grace. I wait for the Lord. My soul
doth wait, and it is word do I hope. You see, there was a
hope. There was a hope that God would
be gracious, that God would have mercy. And these illustrations
that we take from scripture with Jonah and with David, they are
illustrations to us of the wonderful grace, mercy, and love of God
to the vilest of sinners. One of Gadfly's hymns, isn't
it? The violent sinner out of hell that lives to fill his need
is welcomed to the throne of grace, the Saviour's blood to
plead. I love those verses in Hymn 23,
Joseph's heart hymn. Come then, repenting sinner,
come, and trust upon his grace. Oh, what thou wilt, the total
son, is cancelled by his death. And such words as these, they
bring hope into the heart of the poor ruined sinner. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin. That brings
hope. And what does that hope do? It's an anchor of the soul. Where is it anchored? In the
glorious person, power, grace, and love, and mercy of God in
Jesus Christ. That is the anchor. It's cast
within the veil, it's cast within the glorious person of the Son
of God manifest in the flesh. My soul doth wait for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning. If you lay awake
at night, you may lay awake for hours and
you're watching for the sun to rise and it seems such a long
time. but you know that the morning
will come. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in
the morning. It does. My soul doth wait, waiteth
for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say,
emphasize it, I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
And then, let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there
is mercy. and with him is plenteous redemption. And when Christ is revealed, there's a taste in that the Lord
is gracious. There's a taste in that he's
loved you with an everlasting love. I never forget visiting
my sister who had terminal cancer and I wasn't sure where she stood
spiritually. And she said to me, Jade, she
said, when the consultant told me that I'd got terminal cancer,
she said it absolutely completely knocked me down, which it would,
wouldn't it? I came home, she said, and knelt
by my bed. And she said, while I was kneeling,
pleading with the Lord for mercy, These words came, Son, thy sins,
which are many, are all forgiven thee. And then she said, I was still
on my knees, still in prayer, and what struck me and what was
so beautiful, she said the same words, the same power, yea, I
have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. I could bury her in sure and
certain hope of a glorious resurrection. She died in Christ, loved with
an everlasting love. And the evidence of that love?
You're drawn to Christ. Are you drawn to Christ? Is there
in you, like the Lord Jesus said, blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness? Are you hungry and thirsting
after Christ? He satisfied the longing soul,
He filleth the hungry soul with goodness. This great God, let
Israel hope. You see, hope. Hope maketh not
ashamed. You know, it's very beautiful
the way the Spirit of God sets these things before us in the
Holy Word of God. hope maketh not ashamed. Do you have a hope? Do you have
a good hope through grace? We read in Romans chapter 5,
therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh
not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we
were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the
ungodly. And he says there, you see, verse
eight, but God commended his love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. A door of hope is opened
wide in Jesus' bleeding hands and side. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin. which hope we
have as an anchor, sure and steadfast, anchored in the precious blood
and righteousness of Jesus, the son of God, that was manifest
in the flesh. That glorious righteousness of
Christ was a holy life of Christ. Holy law fulfilled, honored and
magnified in that holy life of Christ. That's the righteousness
that the believer receives. They have no righteousness of
their own. They haven't and they never will. Oh, sinner, you'll
never have any righteousness of your own. You'll always be
a poor, ruined, wretched sinner. But our righteousness is the
righteousness of Christ. He's Jehovah, said, can you?
The Lord, our righteousness. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord, there is mercy. And with him, is plenteous redemption. There's a sufficiency in the
glorious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for every poor sinner
that comes to him. And him that cometh unto me,
I will in no wise cast out. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy. love that word in Psalm 103 the
mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting it is for them
that call upon him from everlasting to everlasting his eternal love
yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love and his mercy
is from everlasting to everlasting Dutchman They had a dispute in
Holland and he was asking me what I thought of this particular
doctrine and that is, is a sinner justified from all eternity? And that text came immediately
to my mind. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting. A sinner is justified from all
eternity in the glorious person, work, power and grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. in His precious sacrifice, in
His precious blood, in His death and His resurrection and His
ascension into glory and His session at the right hand of
the Father, 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 you may be also. You see, to be forever
with the Lord. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But
there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I
wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait, and in his
word do I hope. My soul waiteth the Lord more
than they that watch for the morning. I say more than they
that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption,
and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. May the Lord
add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 755. The tune is Luton 363. Forgiveness, tis a joyful sound
to malefactors doomed to die. Lord, may this bliss in me be
found. May I, redeeming grace, enjoy. Him 755 to Luton 363. O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? May I live in peace and joy is a red gift of love divine. It's full of measure in every
crime. The coveted child, its glow is
shining, And in the day I came in time. For sins are numbered as the
seven And like a mountain all their sides ♪ The seeds of sovereign grace
expand ♪ ♪ The seeds of sovereign grace expand ♪ ♪ For this dear famous love of
theirs ♪ ♪ Of grateful alliance shall we share ♪ When the truth spreads to his
forehead, They know him deep below. Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with us each. Amen.