Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 119. My read for our
text, verse 114. Verse 114. Thou art my hiding
place and my shield, I hope in thy word. Psalm 119 verse 114 and it is
specifically the just the last few words in our text that i
will be speaking on predominantly this afternoon in thy word but
i want to speak Firstly, of the hiding place and my shield, because
this first part we are directed to the Lord, Thou. Thou art my hiding place and
my shield. The time that a poor sinner first
realizes their need of a hiding place is a time when they will
be seeking from many areas where they can find that hiding place
because we are created under the covenant of works often that
is the shelter that we will run to first. We'll run to ourselves. But the apostle says of those
in Romans 10 that they sought a righteousness, a covering,
but not according to knowledge. They were ignorant of God's righteousness. They were going about to establish
their own. May we be very mindful that there
are hiding places that are not good hiding places. Remember
years ago over in Australia when we had the terrible fires and
especially as they went through Cockatoo and there were those
that sought to hide and some they hid in culverts and in drains
But that wasn't a hiding place and they perished in that hiding
place. Years ago over here, when there
was heavy rain and we were caught in the woods, I and my son, we
fled to a very thick foliage holly tree and that was a good
hiding place. from the storm and the rain and
the wet. But if that had been a fire coming
up the hill, that would not have been a good hiding place at all. We need as sinners, under the
broken law of God, under the sentence of God, under the wrath
of God, We need a hiding place, and that hiding place, the only
one that will stand us in the day of death and eternity, and
to stand before the Lord faultless, is in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We think of Abraham's word to
Isaac as they went up Mount Moriah. They were to offer a sacrifice,
but one thing was lacking. And Isaac said, My father, the
fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham's answer, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. And put in the way of our text,
God has provided Himself to be a hiding place. The children
of Israel knew what it was in the time when the angel went
through destroying the firstborn in Egypt. They sheltered in their
homes, but they sheltered beneath the blood. When I see the blood
on the doorposts upon the lintels, I will pass over you. It was
an effectual God-appointed hiding place. we think also of in the
wilderness as well and the Lord was their shelter under that
fiery cloudy pillar in day and night they especially realized
that when they came to the Red Sea and that went between them
and the Egyptians so in effect they were hidden hidden in the
shadow of the Almighty then in the promised land that was appointed
the cities of refuge, and they were to be a hiding place for
the manslayer, to protect from the avenger of blood. May we view God's provision in
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as our hiding place, as our shelter,
one to flee unto, one to trust unto, one to realize this is
God's provision, and be able to say with the psalmist, Thou
art my hiding place. But not only a hiding place,
he says, and my shield. and my shield there is a not
just a hiding not just a hiding but there is a fight You know,
in the Word of God, there's illustrations that try to illustrate from various
aspects. To use one on its own, you find
here one hiding, and there's no action, they're just hiding. But when you put my shield, then
immediately you think, but this hiding place, this is a fight,
this is a battle. And that is what a poor child
of God, feels here below. This is a battle, we are on enemy's
ground, and the many parts of God's Word indicate to us that
it is the complete armour given in Ephesians that tells us, take
upon you the whole armour of God. the shield of faith wherewith
ye shall quench the fiery dance of the adversary and we think
of the fighting that good fight of faith resisting the devil
and now here is the shield We need, as it were, not only a
hiding place, but that which shall help us and show us the
reality of the Lord's help as we go through this world, when
we have the enemy round about us, when we have that which is
assailing our faith. Now, I want to think of the psalmist
here, begins, Thou art my hiding place and my shield. and then
he says I hope in thy word now of course the Lord Jesus Christ
is in heaven while on earth and John beautifully puts it in the
gospel in the beginning was the word and the word was with God
and the word was God the written and the incarnate word are in
all points the same, and the Lord has exalted His Word above
all His Name. The Word of God is what we have
here below set before us, and this is the contrast that is
here. We cannot see the Lord Jesus
Christ except by faith. And may we remember what is set
forth concerning the Word of God, that faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. So if we are to see the Lord,
if we are to shelter beneath Him and in Him, It is through
the Word of God. Remember when the Lord told the
parable of Lazarus and the rich man? Then the rich man thought
that if one were to rise from the dead, if Lazarus was to go
to his brethren and to warn them, then surely they would hear. But our Lord said, They have
Moses, and they have the prophets. Let them hear them. And again,
he insisted, oh yes, but if one rose from the dead, they would
believe. And our Lord said, if they hear
not Moses and the prophets, neither will they hear or be convinced,
even if one rose from the dead. The Word of God is what is vital
and effectual It is the Lord Jesus Christ made manifest to
us, and that is what is upon my spirit here, that again we
might have renewed to us what the Word of God is. These last words, In Thy Word. Now just to remind ourselves
of the importance of the Word of God. It is the inspired, infallible
Word of God, though written by over 40 authors and over 1,500
years, yet every Word of God is pure, and every Word is there,
what is meant to be there. Yes, we have a translation, and
we bless God for a faithful translation. But our Lord, He quoted while
on earth, from the Septuagint, also a translation, the very
words of God as well indicate that every nation and every language
shall receive the word in their own language. We have that at
Pentecost. They heard everyone the wonderful
works of God in their own language. The psalmist says, Thy word have
I hid in mine heart. And that is not a foreign word. We can't hide a foreign language
in our heart that means anything at all. Paul would rather speak
five words with the understanding than 10,000 words in an unknown
tongue. And so, it is vital that we understand
this, and some would say, or try to undermine the Word of
God, perhaps, well, this is inspired, is the original. Yes, it is,
and in all controversies we go back to the original, but it
is vital for us to seek out a faithful translation and receive it as
the inspired infallible Word of God and that we compare scripture
with scripture and so we would be reminded of that and this
is the Word that we preach this is the command that God has given
to us that preach preach the Word now we are not inspired
we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit, to recall to our memory,
to bless our diligent study of the Word, and that the Word be
blessed to the people, tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until
thou be endued with power from on high. No success in preaching,
no blessing apart from the Holy Spirit. It is vital that that
be joined, and we have the Holy Spirit of God unseen by us, promised
by the Lord Jesus Christ, given at the Day of Pentecost, that
we have that we cannot see, and yet we have the Word that we
can see, and that we can hear, and that is what we are to preach.
And when Paul preached to the Thessalonians, he said of them,
they received the Word, not as it was the Word of man, but as
it is in truth the Word of God. And that the Word came unto them,
not in word only, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power. And so that is where we know
the Spirit's work by the power and the effect that it has. The two are to be joined together. And we then must preach the Word. Yes, we preach the experience
of the Truth. But it should be in such a way
that we can be like the Bereans, and each one that hears the Word
of God, that search the Scriptures daily whether these things were
so. And so when the Word is preached,
then we have the Lord set before us. I, if I be lifted up above
the earth, that is, in the preaching of the Word, preaching of the
cross, determines, says Paul, to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, then we are drawn to Him, attracted
to Him, like the two on the way to Emmaus, Christ in all the
Scriptures, their heart burned within them while He taught with
them by the way. That's a blessed experience when
we hear the Word of God preached, we hear Christ preached, and
we're drawn to it, we're attracted to it. this is the lord this
is my savior this is he traced through all the passage of time
and in the words of the scriptures the lord began and preached unto
them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself these
these times of preaching especially they are ordained by God and
that's why as preachers we must be careful to be bringing the
word all our authority is not in ourselves it's in the word
of God thus saith the Lord and the authority is that they shall
everyone receive of my words not man's words but my words
the great errors of course with the Roman Catholic Church, was
that they added tradition, and they added man's words. Or the
Jews, they made the Word of God of none effect by their traditions. And we must be very careful,
especially as preachers, that we don't make the Word of God
of none effect, or harden men against specific texts and words. course of solemnity in our lives
today, men would have us to be hardened against the creation
and think that well evolution is how the world came into being
and The children in school are just conditioned when they look
at the wonderful things of creation. Instead of seeing God, they have
that disannulled by constant teaching at school. But we've
got to be careful that in many aspects of the Word of God, we
shouldn't make any part of it to be of none effect. That the
Word of God have free course and be glorifying. We've already
mentioned the great use of faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God, the only way. Without faith it is
impossible to please God. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is, that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him. And so it is through the Word,
faith cometh through hearing. And may we realize that and have
in our hearts a heightened esteem of the Word of God and of valuing
the Word of God. we know that it shall never pass
away the Lord said heaven and earth shall pass away but my
words shall not pass away they shall endure forever forever
oh Lord thy word is settled in heaven we're also sanctified
by the washing of water by the word we have in Ephesians the
beautiful time of the Lord cleansing his is Church, making it to be
sanctified and made to be the Bride of Christ. And it is through
the Word of God that they are set apart, that they are cleansed,
that they are sanctified and made holy. It is the Word of
God that does that, by washing of water by the Word. We might
not look at any one service and think that we profited much by
it. But it's the same as having a
meal. We might have one meal and you
can't see how much you've been profited by that one meal. But
if you had no meals for a month, you'd certainly see what had
happened then, a lack or you wouldn't be able to live. And
so when the Word washes over us, service by service, time
by time, and gathering by gathering, private worship, family worship,
chapel worship, in the Word of God, that is what sanctifies
us, separates us. The Lord said in John 17, I have
given them thy Word, and the world hath hated them." In other
words, the Word of God is what sanctifies or separates the church
from the world, and the world hates those that cleave to the
Word of God and obey it. They want to be free from the
Word and free from the restrictions of it. They hate those who have
the Word of God. And so, may we never be ashamed
of the word of God never be ashamed to to quote the word or to go
to the word and if people say well we don't believe it you
can't argue from the word of God you say well that's all right
you argue from the world view i cannot i must not i must bring
the word of God and view the world through that lens because
the Word of God is precious to me. It is God's Word and God's
authority. And of course we have our Lord
resisting Satan and quoting that which was in Deuteronomy, Man
shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. It is our meat and our drink.
Our Lord's charge to Peter, Feed my sheep and feed my lambs. It
is the word of God. that is fed. When the disciples
followed the Lord over the sea, because he'd fed them with the
loaves and the fishes, he said to them, labor not for the meat
that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life. And later on in that He says,
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life, except you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son
of Man, you have no life in you, for that eating and drinking
is through the Word of God, feeding upon the Word of God. And of
course it is the Word of Truth. Pilate says, what is Truth? Well,
Truth is reality viewed from God's perspective. And that is
what is set forth in the Word of God. God is telling us how
He is viewing things from eternity, from His perspective, from how
it will be viewed in the Judgment Day. And all of this is what
the Word of God means to us, and I hope it is that when we
come into the house of God, that one of the things that our churches
are known for is that they are plain, but what stands out is
the pulpit, and on the pulpit is the Bible, is the Word of
God, and that is central And that takes the prime time in
our worship, because we are hearing from the Lord. In prayer, the
Lord is hearing from us. The minister is making that intercession
on behalf of the congregation. But when in the preaching, we
are hearing from the Lord. As the word is lifted up, the
Lord speaks to us. And so may we be renewed in this
as we come occasion by occasion to the House of God, or come
round the Word of God. May we view that Word of God
with great esteem. and value and realize what it
is to us and what a blessing it is to have it and to have
it in our own tongue. You know, all of us, by nature,
if something happens regularly, we end up taking it for granted. I remember the little account
of a man that had a neighbor. He was an old man. He was not
able to care for himself. The neighbor gave him a meal
once a day, he cooked a meal and at first he was very very
grateful for it, very thankful for it, but as time got on if
the neighbour was a little late he started banging on the wall
and then he was picking and grumbling over how it was cooked and it
wasn't quite like he wanted and so what started off as something that
he was really thankful and valuable for, became something that he
started to pull apart, be ungrateful for, unthankful for. May that
not be so with the Word of God. Just because we have so much
in our homes and in the house of God, May we have it really
renewed to us, how precious, how vital, what a blessed thing. And some of us can look back,
and probably all of us, in the days of our unregeneracy, when
we neglected the Word of God. When we didn't read it, we didn't
want to read it. I always remember the most painful
time with myself in unregeneracy. I think it was probably on a
Sunday and my mother came into the bedroom where I was lying
on the bed having a rest and she was amazed I was reading
the Bible. Well, she had a closer look,
and the Bible was on the outside, but a novel was on the inside.
And I was trying to appear as if I was reading what was right
on the Lord's Day, but secretly reading what I wanted to read. And some of you may really remember
where you've had no love to the Word of God. You've hated it. You wanted to not read it, when
you've had the opportunity to. and certainly not be subject
to it. Bless the Lord if he's changed
that. If he's made a difference and he's made his word precious
and made to mean something to you, bless him for it. Because
it is absolutely vital. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. mine ear hath he
opened. It's one of the real marks of
a call by grace, a quickening of the Lord, that the Lord then
speaks and we hear. My sheep, they hear my voice
and they follow me and hearing his voice is hearing His Word,
reading His Word. Again, many don't often read
the Word of God. Sadly, in many assemblies of
the churches, the Word of God is not often read, not in home,
not in private, not for own enjoyment or profit. and the late Dr Alan
Kenz was once asked how should we study the Word of God and
he said well this might seem a strange answer read it because
many don't read it and they just want to know some answers to
questions but they don't read it may we be those that read
the Word of God Well, I want to speak then of these last three
words in our text. In Thy Word. And in Psalm 119, there is several
times when this phrase is used. The whole Psalm magnifies the
Word of God, lifts it up, speaks very highly, of the word and
so i want to look at four points the first one is a testimony
concerning the past The second, a present testimony. The third
point, making provision for meditation on the word or in the word. And
then lastly, prayer for steps to be ordered in thy word. But firstly, a testimony concerning
the past. Going back to a portion before
where we read in verse 74, we read, they that fear thee will
be glad when they see me because I have hoped in thy word. It's a testimony concerning the
past, one that has hoped in thy word in the word of God and those
that notice the difference it is a good thing to be able to
look back when we have received blessings when we have had an
expectation we read that thine expectation shall not be cut
off when we have had a hope remember that hope that is seen is not
hope For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? That if
we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait
for it? And so to be able to say, I have
had my hope raised up a hope in Christ, a hope of mercy, a
hope that the Lord would receive me, that he would be merciful
to me, gracious to me. I have had a hope, you know,
a good hope through grace. What a blessing that is. And to be able to come this afternoon
and to say, I have hoped in thy word. Can we say that? Can we look back to where the
Lord began with us? And you can say it was through
the Word of God that I began to have hope, that I had hope,
I have hope. This is my testimony up to this
time. And there are those that look
upon me and they see, as in the verse here, that they that fear thee will be glad
when they see me the people of god the people of god those that
fear the lord in his temple everyone does speak of his glory in the
world they only consult to cast him down from his excellency
but in the lord's house it's like barnabas going to antioch
and he saw the grace of god and he was glad There's no greater
joy to the people of God. Like John said in his epistles,
that my children are walking in the ways of the Lord and in
the ways of the Word of God. What a joy that is. And it is
those that fear the Lord themselves, a childlike filial fear, that
notice and recognize this. Here is a poor sinner that has
hoped in the Word of God. They see the work of the Spirit
here, who doesn't speak of himself, but does speak of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that makes the Word effectual, not in word only, but in demonstration
of Spirit. the law it kills, the gospel
it raises up to a hope, and a good hope is one that is founded upon
the Word of God, not a vain hope, not the hope of Bunyan's ignorance,
but one that is based upon what God has said. That is a good
testimony to be able to say, on one hand, the Lord's people,
they've noticed a difference in me. On the other hand, in
my case, you might say, I have hoped in thy Word. That has made
the difference. That has brought me to want to
hear it preached. That is what has brought me to
come to the Word of God, to look for blessing there, because hope
has been raised up there. One of the hymn writers says,
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And Jesus' name is right
through the Word of God. He is the Word. the living Word
of God. May we remember that the Word
of God is not a dead letter, it's a living Word and it lives
in the hearts and lives of the people of God and noticed by
those who do fear the Lord. Those whose lives is then regulated
by the Word. So may we this afternoon realize
may it be that blessing that we can join with the psalmist
here and say i have hoped in thy word and the spirit bear
witness and say yes i know poor soul i know you have hoped you
may have gone months you may have gone days where you've just
had tribulation and blackness and thought that you were not
one of the Lords, that you were cast out, you would never find
this hiding place, this refuge, but you hoped and came again
and again with that hope, and now you realize that the Lord
has blessed that hope. You've realized it. Instead,
now that there has been a hope in the future, then you have
that hope now, but you can look back and say, I have hoped in
thy word, and because I have hoped in thy word, this has made
a difference, and the people of God are glad to see me. glad
to have me amongst their company. This is the Lord's work. This
is the testimony of the psalmist here. But secondly, I want to notice
a present testimony. We are not to live, we might
say, in the past. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. And it's
a great ongoing witness where the Lord has put us in the way
we don't have to always remember back to where the Lord began
with us, blessed if we can. But the greatest witness is an
ongoing work. And so the psalmist says, and
there's two verses in this psalm. Firstly, in verse 42, we have,
so shall I have, or if we read from verse 41, let thy mercies
come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy
word. So shall I have wherewith to
answer him that reproacheth me, for I trust in thy word. A present testimony. I wonder if we can come in there. I trust in thy word. What can we trust in else? Perhaps
our own works, our own opinions, our own thoughts, our own feelings. This is the testimony that should
be the present testimony of the people of God. I trust in Thy
Word. And let's put it on in a context
perhaps. in our text we had the hiding
place and the shield where the lord is that but where is our
trust is it in the lord it will be in his word thy word that i have rested on
shall help my heaviest hour says the hymn writer when we have
the enemy assail us when we have our old nature contradict the
word of god when we have satan like he came to our lord command
these stones that they might be made bread the lord comes
back to satan every time with the word of god i trust i shelter
beneath this word this word is what i can trust and i do trust
in And this is to be a present testimony. May our testimony
be like the psalmist here. Where the word speaks, we trust
it. Where it directs, we trust it.
Where it warns us, we trust it. Where it guides us, we trust
it. You think of a blind man, and
we have several here in Cranbrook, And sometimes they might be waiting
to cross a road and a nice friend comes along and takes them by
the arm. They've got to trust that guy.
They're not going to push them out in front of the traffic,
that they can follow that person. And so with us, we have no wisdom,
no sight, but what the Lord gives us. And we are to trust in that. I will instruct thee and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go, I will guide thee with mine
eye. And so we, the Lord looks and
he puts in his word and we follow his word and we trust his word. In what we do, what we don't
do, how we act, what we say. and not the world's standards,
but God's standard, comparing scripture with scripture. May this then be our testimony,
I trust in thy word. But there's another present testimony
that is in our very words of our text, verse 114. Thou art my hiding place and
my shield, I hope in Thy Word. We spoke first of a testimony
concerning the past, and that was, I have hoped in Thy Word. But this is in the present sense,
I hope in Thy Word. Does a child of God ever get
beyond hoping? We are saved by hope. You know,
just because we are brought to faith, baptized, ended up on
the church roll, doesn't mean to say there's no need for hope
anymore, is there? How many things that we need
that hope, a hope beyond the grave, a hope in the Lord's mercy
day by day, a hope in His care and keeping, a hope in His teaching,
a hope that when we come to die, that we shall sleep in Jesus,
that our souls shall be brought safe to the Lord above. I hope
that we shall be with the Lord for ever and ever. Going to 1
Thessalonians 4 and those last verses from verse 13. Wherefore
comfort yourselves one another with these words, that hope of
those who have gone before us that one day they will come again
we will see them we will be with them again that is a hope that
Paul brought before the Thessalonians they were cast down as if those
that had die that they'd perish no he says their spirits their
souls are alive with the lord when the lord comes we that are
alive and remain we shall be caught up with them in the air
but what shall happen first their bodies are sleeping in the grave
they shall be raised they shall be joined with their souls so
shall we ever be with the lord now we never have those vague
views of heaven you know here below is the shadows in heaven
there is the reality we shall know even as we are known and
we shall see the Lord we shall see him as he is and some say
that well we he shall be everything we'll only have eyes for him
well we will have eyes for him but we also hear below the very
token of being a child of God is that we love the brethren
in heaven there is an innumerable multitude And they're not all
individuals that can't care less and have nothing to do with anyone
else but just eyes for the Lord. Now as much here below we might
say we serve the Lord, we love the Lord, we follow after the
Lord, but that doesn't mean to say we ignore the brethren and
have nothing to do with them. we love the brethren with all
our infirmities and weaknesses and sometimes it might be strained
but in heaven there shall be no jars there shall be nothing
to to separate and often it is a blessed thing to to realize
those that have gone before that we shall see them again The Lord
says concerning the resurrection, has thou not heard that Moses,
when God appeared in the bush, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. They live. They're with the Lord
in heaven. And I always remember slowly
driving through the lanes of Springvale cemetery to find Alice
Robinson's grave, and the Lord dropped in, why seek ye the living
among the dead? I still went to find the place
where her mortal remains were, but the reality, the living,
she was alive, she was with the Lord, she is with the Lord, and
that's a wonderful thing to realize, It does strengthen our faith
and encouragement here below, and it is then that we are in
the present, not just in the past, but all the way through
our journey. We've got this hope that is set
before us in the Gospel, a hope in Christ and a hope beyond the
grave. Dear soul, go on hoping, the
same as with hope before, and in fact, once called, once quickened,
you might say, well, I approved the blessing of hope. Once I
hoped even to be put amongst the children of God here below,
and the Lord has done that. And now I still hope. I hope
to be amongst them in heaven above. And I believe as the Lord
has done this first, he will do that too. So go on hoping,
dear soul. Hope in the Lord. Hope as a very
present testimony. I hope in Thy Word. I hope in Thy Word. In every
blessing, in everything that we need, it is supplied through
the Word of God and what the Word testifies. Well, I want to look then thirdly at making provision for meditation
in Thy Word. Verse 148. Mine eyes prevent the night watchers
that I might meditate in Thy Word. You all would know the account
of our Lord going to that blessed house in Bethany, when there
was Mary and Martha, and Martha was cumbered about with much
serving. But Mary sat at the Lord's feet
and heard His word. And Martha, she wanted the Lord
to take her side and to bid Mary to help her. But the Lord rebuked
her. He said, Mary hath chosen that
better part, which shall not be taken away from her. It's
very easy to be cumbered about with much serving in the ministry,
especially if we've got responsibilities in the Church of God and many
places. We can be cumbered about with
even the Lord in the house, we have his word, we have preaching,
but we're so busy, we're so busy doing everything, we do not have
time. unless we consciously make time
to sit still, to listen to His voice. Sometimes it is just such
a clamor, and we think that we can come and read a few verses,
then up and get on our way, have a short prayer, but we need time,
we need communion and fellowship with the Lord. One of the brethren
in the ministry, when I first went into the ministry, he said
to me, he said, Roland, you'll have to fight for every bit of
meditation time you can get. Have you ever wondered why it
is? You can be looking at something, reading something, worldly, unprofitable
it might be, and the minutes slip by, time just goes. But when you come to the Word
of God, suddenly you can't concentrate for long and your mind is wandering
and you go into prayer and in the attitude of prayer your mind
is going to this and to that and to all things satan will
say we're not a child of god you don't love the word of god
and you can't stand much time in prayer but you know satan emiratis says
trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees He's spoken
of the battle of the pathway, and don't be surprised, we have
an old nature, and that will love the things of this world.
May we help to really strive to make provision, and to ask
the Lord that he'd make his word. precious and guard over and watch
us over those times with the Lord. I love that part with Mary
and Martha. The Lord loved Martha. He did.
He says that. The Lord loved Mary and Martha.
But Martha lost a lot that Mary had. Mary was able to discern,
I believe, better than the apostles themselves. of the coming sufferings
of the Lord when she anointed the Lord the Lord said she had
anointed me for the burial she discerned it she knew it and
so the psalmist here this is not just reading upon the Word
of God but he is trying to stay awake that he might meditate
on the Word of God You know the clean animals, one of the marks
of it was that they chewed the cud. You get cattle, you get
sheep, and they'll eat the grass, and then they'll go and they'll
lie down. They're not eating the grass anymore, but they're
still chewing. What are they doing? They're
chewing the cud. They've got two stomachs. They bring up what
they've had before, and they're going over it again, getting
the second benefit. And that is what we are to do
as well. and make provision that we do
think, not when the Amen is said this afternoon, that we go home
and we forget about the Word of God, and we don't talk about
it, and we don't think about it, and we don't meditate upon
it. Meditation is thinking deeply,
going over it, pondering it, looking at the different aspects
of it. It is said with, for a minister,
what makes a minister, reading, meditation and prayer those three
things but it doesn't just remain with a minister does it so may
we make that provision to meditate in the word and last point prayer
for steps to be ordered in the word order my footsteps in thy
word the psalmist says and it is a blessed thing where that
is our desire that the lord does order our lives by the word of
god and also that he orders our footsteps and often find this
in the ministry that we might be have a text come to mind and I look
at that text and that text leads me to another text and that text
leads me to another text and it might be that text that I
end up preaching from not the first one and I have this view
of walking through the Word of God and comparing scripture with
scripture often a bible like the one i'm using now the westminster
reference bible is very good for that gives you the references
and go from one part of the word to another because the more we
know and remember the word the more that we are able even to
recall to mind where those passages are in the scripture so may we
have prayer in that way the parts of the scripture that we don't
know, that the Lord leads us to them and directs us to them.
Well, may the Lord then bless the word this afternoon and bless
our worship together. Amen.