Go with me if you would back
to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, I want us to look at the verses that
our brother just read for us. This is a prayer of David. And the Holy Spirit inspired
him to say something in this prayer that struck a chord with
me. If anybody's ever played an instrument,
you know what it feels like inside when you come across a chord
you've never heard before. And it strikes a chord in you.
It resonates in you. Something, oh, it struck a chord
in me. And this is what it is, it's
verse 132. David said, and as I read this. Let's ask the Lord to give us
faith to read this in faith. Let's. Faithfully with faith
believing, let's read this in that way. OK, verse 132 he said. Look thou upon me. and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those
that love thy name. Be merciful to me. Look thou
upon me as thou used to do unto those that love thy name.
David said, Lord, Would you do again what you used to do? Now ask the Lord to strike a
chord in you. Ask the Lord to let you get a
hold of that sincerely. Ask the Lord to let you get a
hold of that. David said, Lord, would you do the same thing for
me that you used to do for all of the brethren from generations
ago? Would you do the same thing for me? I got to thinking about
our brethren from generations ago, brethren from a long time
ago, and I got to thinking about just how human they were. Just how human they really were.
And I thought about some of the things that the Lord did for
those brethren. Just think about what he did
for Abraham. When Abraham took Isaac, his
son, up on Mount Moriah, as God told him to do, and he built
an altar and he tied him up and made his son to be a sacrifice
for God. In faith, he was doing it in
faith. Trusting God, believing God. He was just at that moment
where you can only imagine, he had to have a moment where he
said, I'm really going to do this. It doesn't appear God is
stopping me and I'm really going to do this. And at that moment,
the Lord said, Abraham, turn around. Look behind you. And there was a ram caught in
the thicket. And Abraham laid hold of that
ram and threw him on his son. And don't you know that as Abraham
plunged that knife into Isaac's substitute, don't you know he
was crying? Thank you, Lord. Don't you know
he was? Oh, I was about to. Oh, thank
you. Would you do that for me? That
relief, that Oh, would you do that for me?
Think about what the Lord did for Noah. Just really, we know
the story. Noah was a man of like passions,
just like we are, a brother. He's a brother in Christ, just
like we are. Think about what the Lord did
for Noah in providing him an ark. God provided him an ark. He provided him a place of safety,
a place of deliverance. God gave him grace. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. And as the rain of judgment came
down and Noah felt himself rise up. Don't you know he was crying? Thank you, Lord. I can sincerely, I thought about
this, I can envision Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their
three sons' wives literally crying in that moment. Realizing what's
going on. Literally crying. Thank you,
Lord. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Think
about what the Lord did for Joseph. Joseph, Jacob's son, Israel's
son. Think about all of the Lord's
watch, care over Joseph's entire life. Tragic story. If you really
think about the details of. Taken from his family, sold into
slavery. All of the Lord, you just think
about all of our God's perfect providence. Throughout his whole
life. Perfect. perfect providence. All the way from the pit to the
favor of the throne of Egypt. Think of everything that the
Lord did for Moses. Keeping his guiding hand, keeping
his leading hand on Moses. Moses led all of these people
40 years. Think of everything that the
Lord did for David. in spite of David. In spite of David's sin, in spite
of his reproach, this is what the Lord said. He said, David
is a man after my own heart. He is in my heart. I love him. I love him. And I have made an everlasting
covenant with him, ordered in all things. And sure, that's
what God said and God did. He really did it with David,
that man. I love him. I've made a covenant. I've made a promise and I'm keeping
it ordered in all things and sure. Look at what the Lord did
for Elijah. He literally carried him right
on up into glory. A chariot of fire came down and
got him. And it's not going to be the
same way, but you know, he's going to carry us right on up
into glory. We're just going to be taken right on up into
glory. All of a sudden, we'll be not here. Lord, carry us just like you
carried him right on up into glory when our time comes. Look
at what the Lord did for Daniel. And Shadrach. And Meshach. and Abednego brought impossible deliverance
to those men. Impossible deliverance. That
fiery furnace was so hot, the men that threw them in died.
Impossible deliverance. Impossible with man. Impossible
for man, not impossible with God. Look at what the Lord did
for a man named Saul of Tarsus. Look what the Lord did for him. One who was a sworn enemy of
God. Just a sworn and just lost in
self-righteous religion. I have so much hope for sinners,
but I tend to think, you know, well, God's not going to say
he's just too self-righteous. He's just too religious. Well,
God can save anybody. He can save anybody. I don't
care how religious they are. How self-righteous they are. But Saul was a sworn enemy of
God. And the Lord God Almighty, this
is what he did, he conquered him. And Saul knew he was conquered. He broke him. And he made him
to be a chosen vessel of mercy sent to preach and to write the
very gospel he hated. Look at what the Lord did for
Martin Luther and John Calvin, men who were
held captive to the lie and the idolatry of Catholicism and whatever
type of false religion it is. False religion, held to the lie
of it, held to the idolatry of it. The Lord opened their eyes
and he turned them to serve the living and true God. He gave them boldness. to declare
the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified alone. Those men had exceptional
boldness, and courage, and confidence. Here I stand, I can do no other. Think about what the Lord did
for Charles Spurgeon. Really. Giving him the message,
he gave Brother Charles the message, He blessed the message that was
given to that man. No glory to any of these men.
All the glory be to God. But he gave that man the ability
to communicate that message sincerely. I love reading Spurgeon. He gave that man heart. He gave him the ability to communicate
this word to men and women's souls with heart. I've told you
the story before that man and woman who traveled to England
years ago during the days of Spurgeon back in the late 1800s.
And while they were there, they wanted to go here and preach.
They had read, he put out writings and they had read his writings
and they wanted to go here and preach in person. But when they
got to Metropolitan Tabernacle, where Spurgeon pastored, that
was the name of the church building that he pastored, that place
held thousands of people. Oh, for a thousand tongues to
sing my great Redeemer's praise. It held thousands of people. But when they got there, he was
so packed that Sunday morning, they couldn't get in. And, uh,
I started thinking about that. I'm sure they did what we do. We tell everybody, come on in.
We will cram you somewhere. But I'm sure that they had crammed
all they could cram and they just had to turn them away. They
could not hold any more people. What an amazing blessing. So
this man and the woman said, OK, well, there's a church down
the street. Let's just go there. So they
did. And the man who pastored that
church, he was a very well-educated, a very well-spoken, well, you
know, charismatic man. And after the service was over,
they walked out of that, walked out of that building saying,
what a sermon. My, what a sermon. What a sermon indeed. That evening, they went back
to Metropolitan Tabernacle, and this time they got in and they
heard Brother Spurgeon preach. And after that service was over,
they walked out, both of them with just tears rolling down
their faces, and they said to each other, what a Savior. My, what a Savior. Oh, my soul,
what a Savior. The Lord gave our brother great,
great ability to communicate the glorious gospel of Christ. We preach Christ. And he gave
that man the ability to just bless it to the hearts of people.
God did that. I believe the Lord God gave that
same ability to our brother, Henry Mann. I believe he did
in a special way. He had the ability to preach
the heart of the gospel. He had the ability to preach
the love of the gospel. He had the ability to preach
the truth of the gospel. Lord, would you do for us the same thing? that you used to do for all of
our brethren throughout the ages. Would you give the joy of a substitute
sacrifice for us? I can't make myself rejoice in
anything. God's Spirit's going to have
to do it. And in the same rejoicing over a substitute sacrifice that
Abraham had in that moment, Oh, thank God. Would you do that
for us? Would you put that joy in us? Would you put the thankfulness
of a covering of safety? Noah had that covering. God's
judgment poured out on Noah like everybody else. But he had a
covering. He had an atonement. Lord, would
you give that thankfulness for a covering of safety to us? Would you make known your providence
to us? Would you cause us to see your
providence in all these things? If the Lord said, Joseph, if
he told him beforehand, this is my providence for you, I'm
going to rip you from your family, sell you into slavery, throw
you in a pit. I'm going to this, I'm going
to this, I'm going to this. Lord, would you cause us to see
your providential hand? in everything. Lord, would you
lead us through this wilderness, however many more years for the
next 40 years? Lord, would you receive us? Like
you received Elijah, would you deliver us like you delivered
our brethren from the pit, the firing furnace? Would you conquer
us? Lord, would you conquer us? Would
you turn us Would you put your message in us? Would you please do for us all
of those glorious things that you used to do for our brethren? For some reason we look at this
and we think those days are over. God did that in the past and
that is, that's over and done. Honestly, this is my prayer.
I am. I've said this to you so many
times and I believe I mean it more every time I say it. This
is my prayer. Lord, would you send a revival
in the midst of our years? Just like you did in generations
past. Just like you did, just like
you used to do. Would you send a revival? Lord,
would you break the hearts of men and women in our generation? As man goes about his business
just so proud and just so, oh man, Lord, you can. Let's ask this in faith. Lord,
you can. Would you literally break the
hearts of men and women in our generation? I can't help but think about
Israel, you know, kingdoms in the past. A king would say, let's
all fast and as a country cry out to God for help. And all
the people would gather together with their wives and their little
ones. Would you do for us what you used to do for them? Would you put a desperate need
in the souls of men and women for the blood of Jesus Christ,
the blood of Christ? I have to have the blood of Christ.
Would you do that today? Would you call and would you
cause your people to come running to you? probably one of the most profound
and impactful moments for me as a preacher. I believe this
is what set my determination for preaching. I was already
preaching. It's not what made me want to preach. But, um, This is probably the biggest
impact I've ever had in this regard. Just before Hannah and
I moved here, I was over at Brother Henry Mahan's house one afternoon,
and he was Trying to tell me everything he could think to
tell me before I left. And I was just so grateful. And
I wrote stuff down and I soaked stuff up and. But he was telling
me about things we were just talking about things and he was
telling me about the preacher school that he had in the early
80s and the men that the Lord raised up to preach and how they
were. going out and the Lord was raising up groups and churches
were being formed and just all the things that the Lord was
doing. And I said to him, I said, oh,
I wish I could have been around back then. I wish I could have
been at this place in life back then. And I'll never forget this.
He hit his, we were having coffee or something, but he hit his
table so hard the dishes rattled. And he looked me right in the
eye and he said, God's not out of business. I'm so glad he said
that. What he was saying is, this world
is still turning, isn't it? We're about ready to fold the
world up before God is. The world is still going on,
isn't it? God still has a people out there. We all take on the mindset of
Elijah. Lord, I'm the only one. We're
the only one. God still has a people out there.
He saved us, didn't he? There is still a remnant. I got
a letter from a man one time, and he was talking about all
of his things that he was enduring. He was in some trials. He said,
thank God, there's still a remnant. There's still a remnant. God
still has people out there. He hasn't left this place without
sheep. What Henry was saying is go find
them. God will find them, but he'll
use the message. He's not weak to save. He's mighty to save. Go preach
the gospel to him. Go throw the seed out there.
They'll come eat. His people will, His chosen,
elect, called, redeemed, not lost people will. Lord, I'm saying this and I mean
this and I'm praying this on our behalf. Lord, would you do
for us, right now today, those same things that you used to
do in all of your glory, for all of your glory. Would you
do for us the same things that you did for your people back
then? Lord, you are the same yesterday, today and forever. Lord, you change not. That's
the only reason we're not concerned. As you have from the beginning
looked on your people and been merciful to your people, would
you now look on us? and be merciful to us, and do
these glorious things for us. Would you do this for us? Lord,
if you will, you can. We know you're able. We know
you're able. Would you? That's our question. Would you?
Verse 133 says, order my steps. in thy word, and let not any
iniquity have dominion over me." I'm filled with iniquity, but
our God said it's not going to have dominion over my people.
I've dealt with it, and it will not have dominion.
But we read that, and this is our reply. Lord, you're going
to have to do that. I can't cause myself to not let
sin have dominion over me. You're going to have to do that.
I can't do it. You have to do that. You order my steps. You let not any iniquity have
dominion over me. You have to do that. Verse 134
says, Deliver me from the oppression of man, so will I keep thy precepts. Lord, you're going to have to
do that. You're going to have to deliver me. You're going to
have to cause me. Make a new creation in me and
cause me to keep your precepts. 135 says, make thy face to shine
upon thy servant and teach me thy statutes. Lord, you're going
to have to do that. I can't do it. This is of you. This has to be of you. This is
only of you. Salvation is of you. Blessing
is of you. Keeping is of you. All things
are of you. Nothing is of me. Everything
is of you. Verse 136, he said, Rivers of
waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law. I saw
three things in that verse, number one, I see the desire of God's
people for other men and women to be saved. We want people to
be saved, don't we? Other men and women, we desire
that they know the truth. We desire that they know the
truth of their wretchedness, the truth of God's holiness,
the truth of the fact that the only hope that any sinner has
before the throne of God is the blood of Jesus Christ. That's
it. That hope is in a denial of self. It's in a pleading of Christ.
That's it. Rivers of water pour out of the
eyes of God's people because they want their families to know
Christ. I want my family to know Christ. I want my friends to know Christ. I want this city to stop playing
games and bow the knee to Jesus Christ. I do. I don't have the
power to make them do that, but he does. Rivers of water run down our
eyes because they keep not thy law. They don't do it. That's
the first thing we can see. The second thing is rivers of
water run down our eyes because our own eyes don't keep thy law. The lust of these eyes, the sin
of this gateway to the body right here, it makes us cry, God, be
merciful to us. Rivers of waters run down our
eyes because they keep not thy law. They need a substitute. They need a freely given righteousness. So in that we see the desire
of God's people for other men and women to know Christ and
be saved. We see the conviction of God's people. in their own
sin and their own desperate need of Christ and being saved. And
in this we see the salvation of God's people in Christ saying
to his father, as though these are the words of Christ himself,
rivers of waters run down mine eyes because my people have not
kept your law. His compassion, in his pity,
in his love, he said, Father, I'll bear their judgment. I'll
bear their punishment. Lay their sin on me because they
kept not thy law. Caused the rivers of waters to
run down my eyes. Let me suffer. Lord, would you
say these things for us? Don't you pray, God, compassionately bore the judgment
of his people. Don't you want it to be you?
I want it to be me. Lord, say these things for us.
Say it like you said it for our brethren back then. Include us. These promises, these testimonies
that you've given in here of your. Promises for your people,
would you apply these promises and these testimonies to us?
I'm done, but look at Psalm 1 verse 129. It says I love this. It
says thy testimonies are wonderful. They're wonderful. Therefore,
my soul is hanging on them. Therefore, doth my soul keep
them. I'm trusting in them. I'm hoping
in them. All of my hope is in the fact
that you will do for me what you did for them. That's my hope. 130 says the entrance of thy
words giveth light. It giveth understanding unto
the simple. Your word has revealed my sin
to me, my need to me, your holiness to me, your demands to me, your
blood to me, your righteousness to me, you to me. And therefore, verse 131 says,
I opened my mouth and panted for I longed for thy commandments. Lord, based on what you have
revealed to me, I need you. I need you. I long for you. I hope in you. I trust in you. Please consider me. Remember
me like the thief on the cross said, Lord, remember me. This
is all I have. Is that you would remember me? 132 says, Look now upon me. And be merciful unto me. Hide me in the rock. cover me
in the blood, show mercy to me in Christ my salvation. He went
on to say, as thou used to do unto those that love thy name. Let me leave you with this, OK? Are we one of them? Will he do
it for us? What he did for them, will he
do it for us? Are we included? Will he remember
us? Here's how we can know. Do we
love his name? Do we love his name? At the hearing of his name, do
our hearts bow? They do. We do. We do. Every time I hear his name, sweetest
name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go. Please give us Christ. If you
love his name, my hope, my life, my all, then say with confidence,
Lord, give me Christ. Please give me Christ. As you
gave Christ to our brethren of old, please give Christ to us
too. Aren't you so glad the testimony
of our Lord, it says, thy testimonies are wonderful. Aren't you so
glad that the testimony of our Lord says, ask and you'll receive? Ask and you'll receive. Wonderful. All right, let's all stand together.