Welcome to our worship
here this evening, let us ask the Lord's blessing in prayer.
Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
we ask of thee an evening blessing, that thou hast granted us thy
felt presence in the sanctuary, that thou hast blessed thy word
to our souls, that thou hast made thyself precious to us.
O Lord, do send none empty away, but get to thyself honour and
glory in the blessing of thy people. Lord, we ask thee this
through thy name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn: 1016, Tune: Blissful Home 302 Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God, Psalm 31. Psalm 31. If you have one of
our free Bibles, that is page 516. Psalm 31. To the chief musician,
a Psalm of David. In thee, O Lord, do I put my
trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver
me in Thy righteousness, bow down Thine ear to me, deliver
me speedily, be Thou my strong rock for an house of defence
to save me. For Thou art my rock and my fortress,
therefore for Thy name's sake lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they
have laid privily for me, for Thou art my strength. Into Thine
hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord
God of truth. I have hated them that regard
lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and
rejoice in thy mercy, for thou hast considered my trouble, thou
hast known my soul in adversities, and hast not shut me up into
the hand of the enemy, thou hast set my feet in a large room. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for
I am in trouble, mine eyes consumed with grief, yea, my soul and
my belly. For my life is spent with grief,
and my years with sighing. My strength faileth because of
mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among
all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear
to mine acquaintance, they that did see me without fled from
me. I am forgotten as a dead man
out of mind, I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the
slander of many, fear was on every side, While they took counsel
together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trusted
in Thee, O Lord. I said, Thou art my God. My times are in Thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of my
enemies and from them that persecute me. make thy face to shine upon
thy servant, save me for thy mercy's sake. Let me not be ashamed,
O Lord, for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed,
and let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be
put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously
against the righteous. O how great is Thy goodness,
which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast
wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men. Thou shalt hide them in the secret
of Thy presence from the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them
secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be
the Lord, for he has shown me his marvellous kindness in a
strong city. For I said in my haste, I am
cut off from before thine eyes. Nevertheless, thou heardest the
voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. O love the
Lord, all ye saints, For the Lord preserveth the faithful
and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage
and he shall strengthen your heart. Hold ye that hope in the
Lord. Lord bless that reading of his
holy word and help us in prayer. Let us pray. Thou long-suffering and merciful,
gracious God, we would bow before Thy throne and plead that precious
name of Jesus. He who said, if ye ask anything
in my name, I will do it. And he who has said that none
cometh unto the Father but by me, we would come. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
pleading his name, his merits, his promises, O Lord, do we please
to grant thy blessing here on that basis for thine honour and
for thy glory. Lord, thou art the heavenly potter. Lord, we are the clay. do fashion
us and make us to be a vessel unto honour. O Lord, do save
us from ourselves. Lord, if left to ourselves, we
shall bring forth no fruit, no glory to Thee. Lord, do grant
unto us to be found as Thy workmanship. as those that are created by
Thee unto good works, that Thou wilt work in us. We thank Thee for our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, for the precious blood that was shed
on this earth, this earth that knew the blood of Thee, thousands
and thousands of blood, And yet Thou, the Eternal God,
who fillest all things, who has made flesh and dwelt among us,
and Thou didst shed Thy precious blood, Thou didst become man
so that Thou couldst shed Thy blood. and be made manifest unto
us. O Lord, we cannot comprehend
Thy greatness, Thy divine power and presence everywhere. And
we thank Thee for the revelation of God, of Thyself, in the person
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thou hast said, if ye have seen
me, You have seen the Father also. We thank Thee for Thy word
that draws a picture of Thee, that sets Thee forth from every
angle and from every way. O Lord, Thou has determined that
this is the way that we should view Thee, And we say, Lord,
that we might have Thy word dwelling richly in us, that we might have
those scriptural views of our Redeemer, our Saviour, He who
died in our place. Lord, we do pray that we might
be made spiritual, living hearers of Thy word. Thou said be doers
of the word, and not hear us only deceiving your own selves. Do grant then that as we hear
Thy Word, there might be those things that we do, those things
we start doing, those things that we stop doing, those things
that we do, not because we understand, but because we trust Thy Word
and follow that. We do pray that thou would be
our teacher, our guide, our leader. Oh, leave us not to come short
of thy glory. Leave us not to mistake the way. You bless each gathered here this
evening. You bless the children and young
people. We pray that thou's work in their
hearts while they are young. and that thou call them by thy
grace. We pray that they might be not
only quickened into divine life, but led on, instructed in the
way, and brought to full assurance of faith, and to know that they
are thy people. Lord, thou hast said then, he
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the
day of Jesus Christ. We thank thee for that promise.
And so, Lord, we would make intercession on behalf of those that thou
hast begun with, given them a concern, made them alive, change them. Lord, do be pleased to hasten
that time that Thou hast bring to sweet deliverance, assurance
and comfort. O Lord, we do seek, Lord, these
set times to favour Zion. And Lord, do remember those also
that are yet in nature's darkness and do pass by them and bid them
live. Remember also those that may
have backslidden, gone back from serving Thee, even been left
to sin that grace might abound. Lord, do recover us out of every
snare and evil way. Bring us again to be tender,
teachable, for hatred of sin and ever love of holiness. O Lord, make us to truly see
in Thy light that we might understand the things of God. We read, When
thou didst rise from the dead, then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. And we pray that
blessing for each here. Do remember all in affliction,
those in fiery trials, those that walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. Do be with them and support and
strengthen them and their loved ones. We do pray that those who
prepare us each for that time, that heart and flesh shall fail. Lord, we do pray for those in
authority over us, We thank Thee that we are able to meet in freedom,
that we mourn on many things that are done in our land. And
Lord, also, under the name of religion, even Christianity,
those things that are said by those in authority in the national
church. Lord, we confess our sin as a
nation. And Lord, we would mourn over
these things. that are said and done. O Lord,
we do pray that Thou wouldst bless our King and Queen and
those in authority over us with grace, with wisdom, and that
they might be delivered from all of the foolishness of our
day, and that we might again have Thy Word and righteousness
exalting us as a nation. We seek thy blessing upon us
as a church and people here. O Lord, to maintain us, build
us up, strengthen us. Grant, Lord, that thou would
fill this house with hungering, thirsting souls. Bless the witness
in this town. Bless the Bibles that are sent
forth. Bless thy word and bring forth
fruit to thine honour and glory. We do pray that those be with
us in the ministry today and in this coming week. Do remember
thy servants engaged to be with her next here next Lord's Day. Do grant them thy word to bring
and help them and bless their ministry here. We do pray that those send forth
more labourers into the harvest. We realize the many chapels today
that had reading services, but thou, Lord, do also grant deacons,
grant those that take responsibility in the Church of God, and to
be pleased to fill the houses of prayer with hungering, thirsting
souls. We pray for better days in Zion. We pray for the pouring out of
thy Holy Spirit, that we might begin to notice a real difference
in those roundabout us, instead of apathy, a concern, instead
of disinterestedness, a real interest and inquiring, instead
of seeking those things which are of time, a seeking of those
things which are above. O Lord, we do pray for grace
to be evidenced and that we might be like Barnabas, who at Antioch
saw the grace of God and was glad. Remember thy people that
feel snared and held down by besetting sins, troubled in heart,
troubled in their lives, those whose hearts' bitterness thou
knowest, Do send that help from the sanctuary and strength out
of Zion. Heal us of the sores of sin.
Set us in a right path when we're in a wrong one. And do grant,
Lord, much prayer. Breathe prayer into our souls. Breathe the breath of life in
that way. And Lord, do grant us times of
returning for thanksgiving and praise. Lord, we do pray for
endurance in our race, to endure unto the end, to be found at
last at thy right hand, to be saved with an everlasting salvation. Again, we do commit unto thee,
Lord, those providences and things around us. In our homes, how
many things shall affect Lord, the quietness and enjoyment of
our homes, but also the house of God. And we thank Thee that
over the history of this church that Thou has given us good neighbours
and those that have been a help to us. And we pray that when
we have change of neighbours here, Thou has grant us again
those that we get on well with and that are a blessing. to us
here and lord that we might have those that come and they come
to thy house and are blessed oh lord we pray for those who
know the presence of the house of god in their midst as it were
and oh lord do bring them to be blessed here we commit now
thee We come to Thee and ask Thy blessing on the ministry
now, help in speaking and in hearing, that Thou should forgive
our many sins and wash us in Thy precious blood, Lord Jesus. Amen. The announcements, God willing,
I'm expected to preach here on Thursday evening, at seven o'clock. Next Lord's Day, Mr. Philip Buss
is expected to preach in the morning and Mr. Mark Seymour
in the evening. May the Lord be pleased to bless
their ministries here. If the Lord will, I'll be preaching
at Bethel Luton. Hymn: 1101 Tune: St. Oswald 653 Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 31 and verse 3. Psalm 31, verse 3. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy name's sake,
lead me and guide me. Psalm 31, verse 3, lead me and
guide me. This is a psalm of David. As we see with many of the psalms
of David, he speaks in prophecy, he speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot help thinking of our
Lord upon the cross as we read in verse 5. into thine hand i
commit my spirit those words used by our lord david's greatest
son well this psalm as with many psalms it begins with prayer
and it ends with praise there's a good thing where we notice
this in our lives as well that we can be like hannah For this
child I prayed. And then she comes and she is
praising the Lord for the answers to her prayers. Those two are
joined together. If you and I desire to be brought
to a time of praise, of thanksgiving, of rejoicing in the Lord, then
we can be sure that that will begin with prayer. We think of Daniel at the time
when the captivity in Babylon was drawing nigh to its close,
and he understood by books that was so, and immediately he set
himself to prayer, though he was a praying man, regularly
prayed, yet as the Lord intended to bless at that time, He gave
him that real spirit of prayer. I often think of this, if we
only pray when we really feel the spirit of prayer, we will
not know the difference between times when we feel so hard and
cold and feel that the Lord doesn't hear, the prayer doesn't go past
the ceiling, and those times that are very different. If we
are constant in prayer, instant, in season, out of season, when
we feel hard and cold and dry and don't really want to pray,
then we will notice the time that the Lord changes that. And
sometimes it can be in a moment, we can start the prayer feeling
a hard heart and suddenly the Lord comes in and softens. and
draws the soul out after him. And those are sweet, those are
blessed times, and that's why the Lord bids us to be constant
in prayer. Well, here we have a psalm that
shows that forth, beginning in prayer, ending in praise. I love the Lord, all ye his saints,
for the Lord preserveth the faithful. and plentifully rewardeth the
proud doer. Be of good courage, and ye shall
strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Well, I want to look at the verse
that is before us. For thou art my rock and my fortress,
therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. Three points. Firstly, what can
be said of David and those that use this language in prayer. Very often we can look at a prayer,
the language of it, a verse like this, and we can say certain
things about a person that would be praying like that. And that's
what I want to look at in the first point. But secondly, an
effectual reason for the Lord to answer prayer. In our text
it is, for thy name's sake. Effectual reason. And then lastly,
the lead me and guide me, a needful prayer. But firstly, what can
be said of David and of those that would use this language? How often our words really betray
what kind of person we are, or what is going on in our hearts. Well, in this verse, David is willing, willing to
be led and guided. He could not be praying this
prayer if you and I are praying as David did in this way, lead
me and guide me. there must be that willingness.
Unless we are being very deceitful, as the Jews were in Jeremiah's
day, who professed to Jeremiah and to the Lord through him,
that they would do whatever the Lord said. They sent him to ask
of the Lord, should they go down to Egypt or should they not?
And for ten days the Lord was silent to Jeremiah, and then
told them that they were not to go down, but told them as
well that they dissembled in their heart. But if the Lord
has made us like Nathanael, which the Lord knew, an Israelite indeed
in whom is no guile, that what we are coming and bringing before
the Lord is true and real, then to pray this language, we already
have that blessing of a willingness to be led and a willingness to
be guided. In Proverbs we read, seest thou
a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool
than of him. A man that thinks he knows the
way, doesn't need guiding, doesn't need leading, is not able to be led or able
to be guided. But one that prays in this way
has been made teachable in that way. And that is a great blessing. Now countless millions in this
world as regards the things of God, you cannot tell them, you
cannot teach them, they don't want to know. And so to have
that is a blessing. The other thing to note is to
pray like this, there is a felt need of this, a need of leading,
a need of guiding. And when we think that this is
a psalm of David, a man after God's own heart, you might say
a giant in the things of God. What an encouragement that is
for us. When we feel ignorant, when we
feel not to know the way we are to go, we think of the disciples
saying to the Lord, We know not whither thou goest, and how can
we know the way? And so a felt sense of need again
is a good thing, a blessed thing. Our Lord says on the Sermon on
the Mount, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. They feel to not have righteousness,
and they want it and they desire it. A felt lack in the things
of God is not a mark against us when it doesn't hold us back,
but is a cause of going to the Lord for that very same thing. I will be inquired of by the
house of Israel to do it for them. Another thing that can be said,
they are coming, coming to the Lord as one able to do what they
need to be done. David says, Thou art my rock
and my fortress, therefore for thy name's sake, lead me and
guide me. Many petitions in the Word of
God acknowledged the Lord's ability. And when our Lord was on earth,
when he was asked to work miracles, oftentimes his question was,
believe us thou that I am able to do this. And so it's not surprising
when we get psalms, when we get the experience of the people
of God, that part of their petitions and part of their prayer is giving
the Lord the honor and glory due that he is able to do that
which they ask of him. Now with David, no doubt he can
think and look back to former times of leading and guidance
and help. And it's a blessed thing if we
can do that. But even if we can't, And we
have the Word of God as the record of what He has done for others. The Lord gives faith to view
that, that which is written aforetime, that which was written of what
the Lord had done for others, and then is an encouragement to us. If
we go forward a few psalms to Psalm 34, again the Psalm of
David, and again one that points very much to our Lord, and he
is speaking of what himself has received. I sought the Lord,
And he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. And then he is pointing others,
O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that
trusteth in him. Come ye children, hearken unto
me, I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. It would be a sad thing
if we had in the word of God a record of all the wonderful
works of the Lord, But then we came to a verse and said, don't
read any of those with the thought that that will be you or that
the Lord will do that for you. These are not put for your encouragement
or for an example of what the Lord will do for his people.
But the word doesn't say that. Those things that are written
and that this God is the same yesterday and today and forever. And so we may say of David, he
believed the Lord was able to do what he was asking. And if
we are coming in a similar way, using the similar language, it
is a blessed thing where we can testify that the Lord is able
to do it. Another thing that may be said
of David here is that he already had proved, and the Lord had
proved to him, that he was his rock and fortress. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Those things that the Lord had
done for him, others had seen this. They'd taken knowledge
of this, and this is the foundation for asking a blessing for his
namesake. David, if you use him as the
example, he had testified when he went
against Goliath, that the Lord had delivered him from the paw
of the bear and paw of the lion. The Lord then appeared for him
and delivered him out of Goliath's hand. And that was before all
of Israel. All of Israel saw what the Lord
did for David. And it was so with the children
of Israel coming out of Egypt as well. Other nations had seen
what the Lord had done. And Israel speaks of the enemies
of the Lord, that their rock is not as our rock, even themselves
being their judges. Many times the nations around
Israel had to say that the God of Israel was greater than their
God. He had done greater wonders than
their God. And the children of Israel noticed
that. And so with one that is praying
this prayer and observing these things, it is knowing that there
are those things that others have seen God do for us and appear
for us. He said, there are my rock and
my fortress. Let's put it just a slightly
lower way, maybe our neighbors that do not fear the Lord at
all. And because of what we said to
them, and they've seen us going to the house of God, they know
that we fear the Lord. And there may be those things
that we have told them God has done for us in answer to prayer. And however much we might feel
to lack assurance ourselves as to personal salvation, in one
sense, There is a profession made. There is a witness before
the world. And when we're coming before
the Lord in prayer, there's a mindfulness of this. We think of Ezra when
they were bringing the treasures back from Babylon to Israel after
the captivity. And Ezra had said to the king
that the Lord was over all his people to protect them and to
preserve them. And so when they came to the
river, a harbour, and they were mindful then of all the dangers
of the way, he said, we could not ask of the king horsemen.
because we'd made this profession to him. So he would likely to
turn around and said, I thought you said, Ezra, that your God
would preserve and keep you. What are you asking me protection
for, from the bandits that by the way? So that profession that
he'd made, it forced him, instead of looking to man's strength,
to be more urgent in prayer, as it were, Lord, I've made this
profession to the king. Now, to help me to appear for
us, and the Lord did appear for them. And so, it's not a matter
of how much even assurance that we may have, but if the Lord
has, by us, been lifted up before the world so that those who do
not know the Lord say, you see those people living in that house,
They believe in God, they're Christians. And as we're mindful
of this professional witness, that that then comes out in our
prayer. We wouldn't be saying, we're
trusting in chance, or we're trusting in some other God, or
looking to some other God. Thou art my rock and my fortress. And so when we use this language,
we are identifying with the God of heaven and realizing what
he has done for us in the sight of others and how others will
be looking upon us when we're asking for his help. For Thou art my rock and my fortress,
therefore for Thy name's sake lead me and guide me. We may also say that those that
use language in prayer that mirrors that of the Word of God, very
often they know the Word of God And the Lord has put that very
language into their souls to actually use. Many of the Psalms
are prayers that we are to use. They so suit us. Take with you
words and come unto the Lord. And amongst those words will
be promises, will be expectations from the Lord, that He'd appear
for us. I wonder how many times we've
come before the Lord in prayer, and what we've asked has been
based upon some promise, some expectation, something in the
Word of God. Putting the Lord in remembrance,
bringing it before Him. To make me think, when we come
to the prayers of Scripture, when we come to a verse like
this, What can we say about the psalmist? What can we say about
one using this language? What could we say about ourselves? Very often it's hard to see objectively
where we stand, what our real spirit is, what kind of person
we are. But if we take the Word of God
as a mirror and we look at it first as the psalmist, and then
turn it around and think, is this me? Am I like that? The
Lord used this in a different way when David had sinned in
the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah in making him see the rich man
that had taken the poor man's lamb and slain it and killed
it And David could see that man. He could see a man that would
do that. He's worthy of death. He is a
cruel man. He has no feeling. He has no
compassion at all. He could see all of that. And
then Nathan turned it around. Thou art the man. And sometimes
we can do it the other way, thinking we have no marks of the Lord's
people. We have nothing for us. Nothing
that the Lord has wrought in our hearts, there's no tokens
for good, nothing at all. So the Lord sets before us one
of his people, sets before us their prayers, and give us, now
you look at this, and what would you say of that person that's
praying like this, that's using this language, and you make your
judgment, you see what things, something along the lines we've
tried to set before you about that person, And then the Lord
turns it round, well, is not that you? Don't you have some
of those marks that are there? So it might be an encouragement
to us when we can use or find that we are using the language
of those that are the Lord's people in the scripture, or even
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. and feel the Lord has put that
in our hearts and in our mouths. I want to look then, secondly,
an effectual reason for the Lord to answer prayer. The text reads, Will thou art
my rock and my fortress? Therefore for thy name's sake
lead me and guide me. He gives a reason for thy name's
sake and it's a therefore. Before we look at that, just
think of effectual reasons why. Why would the Lord ever answer
prayer? And what reason can we actually
give? Would it be good enough to point
out good things that we've done? You might say, well, didn't Hezekiah
do that? When Hezekiah's life was to be
cut short, and he cried unto the Lord, he reminded the Lord
how that he'd served him, how he'd cleansed the temple, the
things that he'd done. In one sense, It was a valid
plea that the Lord had brought him to walk in his ways. He was
following in the path of Ahas, a wicked king. And he'd done
very differently. Them that honour me, I will honour.
And they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. And there may be those times
that it is right to put the Lord in remembrance of where we have
sought to walk in his ways. But where we are putting it forth
in a way that says, I am righteous, there is something in me that
is worthy of thy praise, or you are in debt to me, you should
be doing this to me. then that is not an acceptable
plea. The difference is when we are
virtually saying, Lord, thou hast set before us right ways. I have sought to walk in these
right ways and plead that the Lord would bless us in those
ways. But again, it's in the way of
a plea. It's seeking a mercy. And if
we look at the whole account of Hezekiah, You can see there
is no demanding, there's no entitlement. By these things men live in all
these things of the life of my spirit. The spirit makes all
the difference in that. But how much better when the
plea is based upon what the Lord has done and not what we have
done. And based upon what the Lord
has done, maybe in several respects. In this case here, David could
say, Thou art my rock and my fortress therefore. Because already the Lord had
appeared for him, because already the Lord had made known that
he was his God, for that reason, He pleads for thy namesake. What would happen if the Lord
did not appear for him? It would be like what Moses said. And Moses pleaded with the Lord
when they came to the promised land. And the Lord said that
he would destroy Israel for rebelling and not going up into the promised
land. and destroy them as one man.
But Moses pleaded, and he said, what shall the Egyptians say? Thou hast brought them out in
their sight. And they will say that he cannot
bring them in, therefore he has destroyed them in the wilderness. And what wilt thou do for thy
great name's sake? It is for the honor and glory
of the Lord, how it shall be viewed by those who have already
seen the helps, the blessings that the Lord has done. And David
had had those, the children of Israel had had those. With Moses'
plea, it wasn't a factual plea. The Lord did chasten them, he
corrected them, and all that rebelled perished in the wilderness,
but Israel as a whole were preserved and they were brought forth 40
years later into the promised land. And so, for the namesake
of the Lord for what He has done, also what He has promised as
well. The Word of God is full of promises
and all the promises of God are yea and amen in the Lord Jesus
Christ. If the promises are to be worth
anything, they are bound up in the name of the Lord. With us,
we can promise something and something will happen. We might
get ill, we might have things happen in Providence, and we
cannot perform that which we said we do. But with the Lord,
he is able to do far more above all that we can ask or think.
And those promises, they are laid up in the word to be pleaded,
and they are based upon his name. And so it is again for thy name's
sake. Another aspect is by the actual
name of the Lord, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially
regarding sin. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Many times I've
tried to plead that when struggling with sin, when beset with sins,
when overtaken with sins, to plead the name of the Lord. That is what he will do to save
and to deliver his people from their sins. Another way of pleading
is when the Lord terms himself the shepherd, the good shepherd.
And that's especially in relation to this leading and guiding.
If the Lord truly is the shepherd, and he has said, when he puts
forth his sheep, he goeth before them, and that is what leading
is, going before, then it is pleading again that offers a
name of shepherd. When we plead, I think the hymn
writer says, I can no denial take when I plead for Jesus'
sake. for those that know their interest
in Christ, that know He has shed His precious blood upon Calvary's
blood for them, then to plead that which the Lord has done.
Because we know where the debt is paid, where it is settled,
then that includes everything. That soul is a redeemed soul,
a soul that's loose from its bondage, it is a soul that It
is established the Lord has love with an everlasting love, and
therefore with loving kindness he has drawn them. You know,
it comes to my mind what the apostle says when he writes to
the Romans in chapter 5, and he has established the blessing
of the Lord and justifying by faith, and then he says, God
commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."
I think, put simply, If the Lord saved us when we
were dead in sin and gave us spiritual life to seek him and
gave us faith in his name, how much more after that will the
Lord help us and bless us? And I bring it even earlier than
that. If the Lord has given spiritual
life to feel, in this verse, to want leading and guiding,
to feel our want to actually be a living soul. The soul that
yet has not got assurance, who has not got that full assurance
of faith, but is a seeker, is concerned, is not what they once
were, the chains has wrought. How much more will the Lord bless
such a soul and answer their petitions and cries if he has already given life
before you even ask for it. And it's a good thing to realize
where we come upon a position where we've already got some
favors. And the greatest favor is to
be quickened into life, into a concern. And that is, then
we can plead for the namesake of the Lord. because he won't
do a half work. There's never a soul that he
enlightens. We read in Articles of Faith
that we believe that God never enlightens the non-elect to make
them capable of receiving grace, receiving life, the light that
he gives to his elect. And the only reason why a soul
is brought out of nature's darkness is because Christ died for them. But to bring out of nature's
darkness doesn't immediately bring assurance, and doesn't
immediately bring to baptism, doesn't immediately bring to
a profession, faith, but it brings one to have life and to Seek
for assurance and seek that the Lord would seal the matter. And
if any soul knows the value of the soul, what it is to be eternally
lost or eternally saved is one that has been quickened into
life. And so a pleading for his namesake
has respect to what the Lord has promised, what he has done,
and what will be for his honour and for his glory. All of the
blessings, everything the Lord does, this people have I formed
for myself, they shall show forth my praise. And our need, we might
say, is God's opportunity. The need of the people of God.
We think of the children of Israel at the Red Sea, their need, their
impossibility. Then God arose, divided the Red
Sea, brought them safely through, destroyed their enemies. And
he began with an impossible situation for his people. The same at Mara,
impossible situation. They couldn't drink of the water,
but God showed the remedy and provided the remedy. And remember
that next time we get into impossible situation, a trial, the cause
that is too hard for you, said Moses, bring it unto me, and
I will hear him. And we are to bring our hard
cases to the Lord. An effectual plea is that he
will hear us for his name's sake. On to look then at thirdly, the
petition. Lead me and guide me. A needful prayer. We have the
beautiful promise in Isaiah that the Lord will bring the blind
by way that they know not. He lead them in paths that they
have not known. And we think of this for all
of God's children. They do not know the way. And we mentioned to the disciples,
Testifying to the Lord, we know not whither thou goest. How can
we know the way? Our Lord's beautiful answer,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. He mentioned about the shepherd
going before. This is what leading is, going
before a people. With Moses, when he desired God
to show him his glory, He said, I'll make all my goodness pass
before thee in the way. The Lord Jesus Christ, in coming
to this world, in suffering, bleeding, dying, rising again,
ascending into heaven, has gone before. He is the firstfruits.
That's why in Hebrews, let us run the races set before us,
looking unto Jesus. He is before us. It keeps us
from looking back. Now if this is our prayer, lead
me and guide me, can you imagine if we said something to that,
to a person, over a piece of ground, and then as we were following
that person, we kept looking back, or looking to one side,
we'd be stumbling and falling over, and the person was saying,
look, keep your eyes on me, don't keep on looking back all the
time. The Apostle Paul, he says, forgetting the things that are
behind, reaching forth unto the things that are before, that
I reach to the prize that is set before me, that I attain
unto it, that prize, the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. It doesn't mean to say that we
forget what has been before. The Apostle Paul never forgot
how he persecuted the Church of God. But he didn't let that
hold him back. The same with the children of
Israel. Thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God hath
led thee his forty years in the wilderness, to try thee, to prove
thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst serve
him or not. They weren't to forget it. But
that wasn't to hold them back. That was to look forward. And
we so need that. Past offences pain my eyes, says
the hymn writer. And the psalmist, remember not,
gains me the sins of my youth. But those things that are behind,
we have to leave them. We cannot change them. We cannot
undo them. Just the remembrance of them
can humble us, we can learn from them. But for the Lord's people,
they are not designed to pull them back, to discourage them,
to cause them to stop hoping, stop praying, stop pleading His
precious name. And so, with this prayer of being
led and guided, There's a looking forward and
seeking that we might walk in that way that leads to eternal
life. I often thought there are so
many, and sometimes this is cast at me when I speak to people
on the things of God. Well, look at all the religions
in the world. Look at all the different shades
of Christianity. How do you know you're right?
How do you know which way is the right one? Well, how would
anyone know? Except it be that the Holy Spirit
guide and teach. I will instruct thee and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go. This is the next psalm, isn't
it? Psalm 32, verse eight. I will
guide thee with mine eye, be ye not as the horse or as the
mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with
bitter pride, lest they come nigh, near unto thee. It's the Lord guiding, instructing
his people. Thou shalt hear a word behind
thee. This is the way, walk ye in it.
When ye turn to the left hand, when ye turn to the right. The children of Israel going
through the wilderness, how should they know the way? The fiery
cloudy pillar leading them through all their journey through. The
whole teaching again and again through the word of God is that
They all, like children, shall be taught of the Lord. Great
shall be the peace of thy children. It shall be the Lord will guide
his people. They shall not err. They will
not be permitted to follow a false guide, a wrong guide. Think of
our Lord saying in John 10, my sheep, they hear my voice, not
the voice of a stranger. They know the difference between
the voice that gives accordance to the word of God and that which
is of tradition or man, or not of the Lord. Prove all things,
hold fast to that which is good. The Lord does lead and does guide
his people. May we clearly know this, guided
safely through the maze of all the opinions of men, all the
doctrines of men and led forth by the right way. You think of
Psalm 107. He led them forth by the right
way that they might go to a city of habitation. It is a vital
truth that we do not learn the ways of the Lord just as a schoolboy
learns his task. But it is done by the mighty
power of heaven that every one that Christ has suffered, bled
and died for on Calvary's tree, he will send his spirit to guide
them. He will not leave them to err. What a factual and good prayer
this is. distrusting ourselves. When the
children of Israel made mistakes, it was like with the Gibeonites.
They took of their victuals and asked not counsel of the Lord.
It looked so clear-cut, so right. These people have come from a
long, long way. Their shoes were worn out. Their
bread was all moldy. Their bottles of wine were all
perished. Therefore, they must have come
from a long way. and they got deceived. It's a
lesson to us. When things seem so easy, so
clear cut, that is more of a time to ask the Lord that he would
lead us and that he would guide us. False guides there are many,
but the Lord doesn't guide in a false way. He guides in a sure
way. This comes to mind Just the simple
illustration I had many years ago on the bridge of the ferry
going from Melbourne to Tasmania. And the master of the ship was
explaining how he was bringing the ship through the center of
the two mile wide rip that went out from the Port Phillip Bay
and into Bass Strait. And he said, you see those two
lighthouses on the shore? He says, we... Line them up. He says, as the ship starts to
turn, as it rounds this buoy, and it rounded the buoy, he said,
we turn the ship, and he said, now you watch those two lights.
They merge into one light. In actual fact, you've got three
points. You've got the two lighthouses,
and you're the third point. So if you get three points to
line up, there is only one way that you can line them up. any
bit out, then you suddenly see more than one point. And he showed
this, and we could see it as that ship come round. He said,
now, now we're on course. We stay with those lights, staying
as one. And you think of that in a spiritual
way. Three things to line up. Does
it line up with the word of God? Does it line up with providence?
Does it line up The third point, ourselves. Have we been made
willing? Use it as a situation. We're
perhaps a job. We might very much like a job
to be ours. We're willing. The Word of God
says it's a suitable occupation. But the opportunity doesn't come
up. The job is not advertised. Well, it's advertised and it's
given to someone else. That's a shut door. But sometimes
it might be that we're willing and the opportunity is there,
we can have the job, but we realize it is not according to the word
of God. You might be desiring a husband
or a wife, and you seek to apply the same thing. Your heart might
be, I like that person. And you've got the opportunity,
the person likes you, but they're not a Christian. They're not
one of the Lord's people. And so that door should be shut,
it doesn't line up. And it can be applied in many
ways that the Lord will guide using those three things. The Apostle Paul, when he tried
to go into Asia, he was forbidden. tried to go into Bithynia, his
spirit suffered him not. We can have times when providence
is open, the word of God is open, but we feel no liberty on our
spirit to make that step or to do it at all. And we shouldn't
force that. The Lord makes his people willing
when he'd have them to go. Even if it's like Moses to go
to Egypt, The Lord dealt with him, at first very unwilling,
but in the end he went. He was made willing. But may
the Lord truly lead us and we be clear as to how the Lord does
lead and does guide us. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
a light unto my path. That is the guide set before
us and our Lord Jesus Christ going before us in the way. May this be our prayer and may
we watch and see it happen. May we be encouraged when we
see it and remember a shut door is as much guidance as an open
one. The Lord's people, they are to
know both of them. I have set before thee an open
door, and no man can shut it. It's a beautiful promise. But
where it is a way of evil and sin, to have a shut door is a
great blessing too. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy name's sake,
lead me and guide me. May this be our prayer and however
blind, however ignorant, however unsure we may feel to be, that
we come back to this prayer and make it ours. May the Lord guide
us, guide us into his heavenly kingdom, guide us into his church,
guide us into peace, Guide us into the way, he'd have us to
go. The Lord at his blessing. Amen. Hymn: 1106 Tune: Walton 430 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.