We are looking in the Psalms. Again, Psalm 119. And we come to the last 16 verses
of the Psalm, 161. Beginning in verse 161. And I
was thinking as Brother Al ably pointed out in the, commandments
concerning the offerings of the law demanded that all of these
things were done as a picture of Christ. He is that perfect
sacrifice. There's nothing lacking in Him.
Nothing that we needed that is not found in Him. Nothing to
be added to it. And thankfully nothing can be
taken away from that which He has done. He said, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I'll in no wise cast out. And we are thankful that that
is the case. How empty is a message that does
not give Christ all the glory. that causes men to be lifted
up with pride to think that they can somehow or other approach
unto God in the power of their own flesh, that they can somehow
or other begin to call upon God, when in reality, no man seeks
after the Lord, except the Lord draws him. And may that ever
be in our mind and heart. And we do not wish in any wise
to discourage any man from seeking the Lord, but our desire is to
encourage all men to seek the Lord. But we do so with the knowledge
that they cannot do so. Just like that song we sang there
a moment ago, Sinner oh why so thoughtless grown? Why do you
tempt the Lord? That is what we would say to
men, you know, because we desire to see men come to fall down
and worship the Lord, to escape the destruction that awaits sinners. I mean, we know we're no different
than they. And apart from the grace of God,
we would not seek the Lord. And so we do impress upon men
with a desire that they seek the Lord. We've never seek to
discourage any man from calling upon the name of the Lord. But
we would at the same time never desire to give men a false sense
of hope that they can do so in the power of their flesh. So
may the Lord help us to exalt and honor Christ and to insofar
as the scripture would plead with sinners to come to Christ
to do that with all that is within us because we do desire to see
God's people drawn to Him and we do desire to see men escape
the destruction that is to come. Psalm 119 verse 161 Princes have persecuted me without
a cause, but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice
that thy word is one that findeth great spoil or treasure. I hate and abhor lying, but thy
law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise
thee because of thy righteous judgments. Great peace have they
which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Lord, I have
hoped for thy salvation and done thy commandments. My soul hath
kept thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I have kept
thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee. Tau, let my cry come near before
thee, O Lord. Give me understanding according
to thy word. Let my supplication come before
thee, deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter
praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall
speak of thy word for all thy commandments are righteousness.
Let thine hand help me for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed
for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall
praise thee, and let thy judgments help me. I have gone astray like
a lost sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments. Now as we draw to a close on
this psalm, which as we pointed out, is divided up into these
various sections which are each set forth with one of the letters
of the Hebrew alphabet. Now, I don't know Hebrew, and
I doubt anybody in here knows much about Hebrew, and certainly
not about the intricacies of the Hebrew alphabet or the ability
to even write these characters. You know, I often marvel when
I see some of these over in Iran and Iraq and all
that, and they got all this writing up there, and boy, it just looks
like somebody just scribbled all over the paper. But yet,
you know, they can read that. And so it is that the Lord has
made the earth, of many varied languages. He confounded the
languages of men, remember that, at the Tower of Babel, because
that was his purpose, to do that. And one thing that came to my
mind as I was singing about this psalm, glorious as it is, and
set forth by these letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Well then
when we come to the New Testament, the Lord sets
forth Himself in the book of the Revelation. He says, I am
the Alpha and the Omega. Now why didn't He do that in
Hebrew? Because, exactly correct, but
that is an indication of the fact that the Gospel The glory
gospel is not given unto the Hebrews, but it's given unto
the world and it's given unto the Gentiles, which the Greeks,
of course, are considered in the scripture as the Gentiles. And so that is an amazing thing
if you stop and think about it. You know, when men would set
forth that the Jews are the chosen people of God. They were the
chosen people of God for the purpose God chose them out to
be, but they are not the chosen people of God in so far as the
scheme of God in the unfolding of redemption in the earth. The
Jews had a place. But the Lord said that he would
call people, his people, out of every kindred, tribe, and
tongue on the face of the earth. And he is a Jew, not which is
one outwardly, but one which is inwardly. So when we read
in the scripture that all Israel shall be saved, we understand
that that does not mean every Jew born of Abraham will be saved,
but every man born again by the Spirit of God who are and go
to make up the Israel of God. That's who the chosen people
of God are. And so it is. I don't know what
yet the Lord may do with the national people of Israel, wherever
they are. You know, people look at a little
country over there in the Mideast and they say that's Israel. Well,
it is insofar as men are concerned, but you know, It's not the Israel
of God. The Israel of God are those for
whom Christ poured out his precious blood. And they are that people
who he will return for in the final day. And so, As we begin
this section, princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart
standeth in awe of thy word. And these are, of course, the
testimonies of Christ. I rejoice that thy word is one
that findeth great treasure. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the word of God. He came into the world as the
word of God, and yet he testifies as a man that he finds in the
Word of God a great treasure, in the Word of God. Now as we
read the Word of God, may it ever be a treasure to us, a thing
precious, not just something that is there and that we can
learn from it and that we ought to follow. Now there are a lot
of people that say, well, we need to read the Bible to find
out how we ought to live. Well, that's good. I'm not opposed
to anybody reading the scriptures in order to know what the Lord
said and teach us what to do. But that's not the purpose for
which we read the scriptures. The purpose for which we read
the scriptures is to find the treasures that are hidden there. Thy word is like a garden Lord
with I lost the words of the song. Thy word is like a garden,
Lord, with flowers rich and rare, and everyone that seeks may find
a lovely cluster there. Thy word is like a deep, deep
mine with jewels rich and rare. Oh, what a glorious thing. You
know, the Word of God is indeed like a mine. You can't ever dig
them all out. I remember hearing an old black
preacher say one time that he said, that preaching the gospel
is just like digging sweet potatoes. He said, you can go out there
and he says, you can dig every sweet potato out of the ground.
You can get every potato that you think is out there. He says,
you can go back tomorrow. And he says, I guarantee you,
you're gonna find some more potatoes in there. And so that's the way
that the word of God is. You can't ever exhaust it. There's
things in here that you may have read the Bible 50 times. I don't
know how many times you've read it. I hope you've read it more
than once. But you will find things in this
Word that you'll swear was not in there. you know, that you
ever read when you read it the first time or the second time
or the third time. You say, there ain't no way that
was in there. And you'll see it because the Lord hides His
Word here for his people to find. What a treasure that is. You know when kids, when you
play games with them and you hide things and they find them,
I mean what a joy it brings to their heart when they find those
things. Now you knew they were there all the time. You knew
exactly where they were. But it's a joy to find a treasure
I rejoice that thy word is one that findeth great spoil, great
treasure. I hate and abhor lying, but thy
law do I love. Now that seems to be redundant,
but it actually is two different thoughts. He says, I hate lying.
That is the concept of lying. I hate the concept of lying.
Nobody likes for people to lie to them. Now we all like to lie
from time to time to cover ourselves. I had a fellow at work for me
one time. You'd know who it was. He told me that it's not wrong
to lie as long as you was getting yourself out of a jam. And that's
kind of the way we reason in our mind, is it not? I mean,
you know, a lie is okay as long as it gets you out of a jam. But we know that's not really
true, of course. It's not really good, right?
And so the Lord says, I hate lying. But he says also, I am
whore lying. That is, not only do I hate lying,
he says, it is like a thing that is abhorrent to me. It's a thing
that boils up within my soul. And what he's specifically speaking
about, as you see it in contrast, he says, but, Thy law do I love. And so what he's saying is, I
abhor, I hate lying, but I abhor those that would twist and change
thy word. That would cause thy word to
be saying something that it's not. Thy law do I love. Thy testimony
is precious to me. And it is an awful thing when
men twist the Word of God and make it to say things that it
doesn't say or to make it to try to be something that it's
not. or to ignore things. See, men, I would say there's
probably more people that go to the Word of God and ignore
things that are in there than there are those that go to the
Word of God and try to make it say something that it doesn't.
One's just as bad as the other because both of them's lying
and both of them is not considering and holding to the whole truth
of God. Seven times a day do I praise
thee because of thy righteous judgments. Now in the scriptures
we know that seven is considered to be the perfect number. I mean
many times over and over again there are many things in the
scriptures. Seven things doth the Lord hate. He made the world in seven days. And so that is a perfect number. And he says here, seven times
a day do I praise thee. Now did he mean that he just
praised the Lord seven times. In other words, he counted them
and he said, well, I've got seven, that's it, I don't need to praise
him anymore. No, he says, it essentially means what the Lord
told. Peter, remember, Peter said, Lord, shall we forgive
people seven times? I mean, that's perfect, isn't
it? I mean, if you've forgiven somebody seven times, then after
going on number eight, buddy, you're free and clear. You don't
have to forgive them anymore. The Lord said, no, till 70 times
seven, because there is no end to it. The perfection of praise is that
which is brought about in the Lord's testimony here. Seven
times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. The Lord does right in the earth. How glorious are the judgments
of God. Now, they're fearful. But the
judgment of the Lord is true, and right, and good, and all
things. Great peace have they which love
thy law, and nothing shall offend them. There is peace to those
that love thy law. I mean, there is peace when we
find ourselves resting in the word of God. I mean, when we
go here and we read it, and we find the truth of God set forth,
and the Lord's pleased to apply these things to our soul, we
have great peace. Now, you can't cause yourself
to have peace. I mean, you can, you know, sometimes
you might read the Bible and it just seems like words on a
page, but when the Lord is pleased to cause that word to be precious
to your soul, then it does minister peace. I can't think of anything
I'd rather hear somebody tell me or read to me than the word
of God. Oh, what a glorious thing. Lord,
I have hoped for thy salvation and done thy commandments. I have hoped for thy salvation.
That is, your salvation is that which I have leaned upon. That
is my hope, as we have said many times about the word hope in
the scripture. It's not a hope so, Lord, I'm
hoping that your salvation's good enough. No, that is my hope. I'm hoping in that, I'm resting
in it. Lord, I hope for thy salvation
and have done thy commandments. Thank God that he did. and he's
the only one that could say that, in reality, I have done thy commandments. He has kept the jot and tittle
of the law. My soul hath kept thy testimonies,
not just my, I've done them outwardly. See, the Pharisees, they said,
well, we're obeying the law. The rich young ruler, he said,
I've obeyed the law. But the Lord said, my soul hath
kept thy testimonies. That is, in my very being perfectly. That's the place where the word
of God is to be kept, and I love them exceedingly. I don't just
love them, but I love them exceedingly. That is, they consume my thoughts.
I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways
are before thee. And what a testimony to the perfections
of Christ as that offering for sin. I have kept thy testimonies. I have thy precepts and testimonies. All my ways are before thee.
The Lord lived his life openly. There was nothing hidden about
his life before men or before God. He grew in favor and stature
with the Lord and with men as he walked in the earth and did
many marvelous things. All my ways are before thee.
Tell, let my cry come near before thee, O Lord. Give me understanding according
to thy word. Now, if he desired understanding
according to the word of God, where else should we be looking
for understanding? I mean, where would we be finding
the knowledge to walk and live in this world except in that
word? Give me understanding of it.
Let it be that which is ever in my mind and heart that I might
know that it is that lamp unto my feet and the light unto my
path. Let my supplication come before thee. Deliver me according
to thy word. A supplication, you know, that's
a form of prayer. That is prayer in the minds of
most. Most people, when they think
of prayer, they think of supplication. Now supplication is a type of
prayer, because supplication is that when a man's asking God
for something. But that's not really what prayer
is. Prayer is essentially worship.
And the Lord, when he told his disciples, when they said, teach
us how to pray, he said, when you pray, say this, our Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. See, that's what
prayer is. It's whenever men come before
the Lord and they worship him. They fall down before Him. They
glorify His name. They magnify Him. That's the
beginning of prayer. And then supplication doesn't
necessarily follow that, but keep in mind that the supplication
does follow that. It's not the thing that begins. But the Lord, as He supplicates,
who was He supplicating for? For Himself or for us? He says,
let my supplication come before thee, deliver me according to
thy word. Not for his sake, but for ours. Because that's why he came. Now
he did desire to be delivered because he was a perfect man
desiring that come from the Lord. My lips shall utter praise when
thou hast taught me thy statutes. And when the Lord does teach
us his word, it does bring forth praise. See, when the Lord applies
the word of God to a man's heart, he can't help but praise the
Lord. I mean, you know, the man, the religious man, he sometimes
balks at the word of God. He says, well, you know, I don't
like that. But the children of God, when
they are taught the word of God, even when it's those things that
are uncomfortable to them, they have to praise the Lord. They
want to praise the Lord for showing them such things. My lips shall
utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall
speak of thy word for all of thy commandments are righteousness. Oh, that the Word of God might
be in our heart and mind like it was in his, so that whenever
we open our mouth, the Word of God comes out. It's said of John
Bunyan, I think Spurgeon might have said it. of him. He said that whenever you read
Bunyan, he says you can cut him anywhere and his blood flows
biblically. He said, you know, that's just
the way that the Bible is such a part of his thought process
till everything that he writes is centered in the Word of God.
May that be so in us. May all of our thoughts and desires
be wrapped up in speaking the Word of God, most especially
to ourselves. See, a lot of times people want
to concentrate on speaking the Word of God to other people.
Well, that's good. Nobody is against that. We need to be speaking the Word
of God to other people. But the one to whom we need to
be speaking the Word of God the most is ourselves. You know,
to remind ourself, I mean, to read the word of God that we
might apply it to us. You know, do you ever pray, Lord,
I wish you'd let old so and so get straightened out on this?
Well, maybe it's the Lord, you need to get straightened out
on it. See, the one that we need to
be concerned about getting straightened out is ourself. And may the Lord
apply his word to our heart. For all thy commandments, my
tongue shall speak of thy word, for all thy commandments are
righteousness. Let thine hand help me, for I
have chosen thy precepts. Now you know a lot of times we
talk about man and his weakness, now the Lord As we know, he is
a perfect man. He chose the precepts of God.
And because of his choice of the precepts of God, we are enabled
to choose those things. But the amazing thing is that
we do choose those things. Now, the Lord chose us, did he
not? The scripture says he chose his
people from before the foundation of the world in Christ. But yet
by the grace of God, he calls them to choose him. Did he not? I mean, we love him, but we love
him because he first loved us. And we choose him because he
chose us. But it is nonetheless true that
we do desire to choose him. See, I've heard people talk about
election in the sense that, you know, some people are elect and
they just gonna wake up in heaven one day, not having ever known
the Lord. That's not true. Because the
Lord causes His people to choose His way. He sent the Word of
God into the world that we might be reconciled unto Him. See,
reconciliation is not about God being reconciled unto us. God
was reconciled unto us in Christ from before the foundation of
the world. But the Gospel comes into the world to cause us to
be reconciled to Him. See, to throw down our arms of
rebellion, to fall down and worship Him, to embrace the way of Christ. And so it is that we do choose
Him. We do desire to walk in His way
because of His grace and mercy to us. I have longed for thy
salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight. Now the Lord Jesus
Christ, he longed for the salvation of the Lord as a perfect man,
but he longed for the salvation of the Lord in the behalf of
those whom he came to save. The scripture says that the angel
came to Joseph and told him, you shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. That was the
purpose for which he came into the world, to save his people
from their sins. And he has accomplished that,
and he prays here, I believe, for that. I have longed for thy
salvation. I want thy salvation. I want
it not for my sake, but for theirs. And so he, as a perfect man,
desires the salvation of the Lord, even as he has desired
it for our sake. O Lord, and thy law is my delight. Again, comes back to that same
truth. Thy law is my delight, that thing
which is precious to me. Let my soul live, and it shall
praise Thee, and let Thy judgments help me." Now, you know, we often
pray that the Lord would make us well when we're sick. He'd
help us. I mean, we want to avoid death
as long as we can. And surely that's just a natural
thing. You don't have to talk a man into wanting to live. I
know some people get messed up in their mind and they might
get off on a tangent and be desiring to end their life and that sort
of thing. But generally speaking, Men want
to live. The Lord put a desire in men
to live in this world. And there's nothing wrong with
that. It's a natural thing that God created and gave us. But
the Lord says, let me live, let my soul live, and it shall praise
thee. See, why do we want to live?
I mean, do we want to live so that we can do all sorts of different
stuff, you know, that we can eat some more cake, or we can
see our grandchildren, or all these things. Nothing wrong with
any of those things, but what do we want to live for? The Lord
said, let me live that I might praise thee. Is that not the
reason we desire to live to praise the Lord? I mean, is it not a
glorious thing that the Lord's given us such a privilege? And
let thy judgments help me. That is, let them undergird me.
Let them support me. Let those things be precious
unto me. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments. Now that seems strange. Does
it not for the Lord to say? But who was he saying it for?
See, the Lord can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
And he knows the needs of his children. And he knows that we,
by the grace of God, when we've been awakened by the Spirit of
God, that we feel ourselves to be sheep who have gone astray.
You know, the man who thinks he's always been following the
Lord doesn't know the Lord. But the man that knows himself
to be constantly in need of the shepherd's hook, you know, to
bring him back. And I have been as a sheep that's
gone astray, but the Lord has rescued us. I mean, does not
the scripture say that all we like sheep have gone astray? That's right. But the Lord has
laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so, you know, whatever
a man feels in that time of feeling himself to be astray from the
Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ has felt that. He knows that. He's
entered into it in our behalf. And he has overcome it in our
behalf. For I do not forget thy commandments. Oh, that that might be true of
us. I do not forget thy commandments. What a terrible thing it would
be for anyone who calls himself a child of God to forget the
Word of God. That is, to turn aside from it.
Now, when we say we forget not thy commandments, it doesn't
mean that we know we can write out every one of the commandments
of God throughout the Word of God. It doesn't mean we can write
a book on it. But what it means, I don't forget
them. I don't leave them at home. In other words, I don't go down
the road without a consideration of the things of God, that these
things would not be forgotten by us, but they would be, again,
precious and desirous and those things that we hold on to with
all that's within us. Only the grace of God. can bring
a man to that place. What a rejoicing it is when the
Lord is pleased to cause us to see the glories that are found
in Christ, in His Word, and to apply these things to our heart.