Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Psalm 51 and reading for our
text, verse 6. Psalm 51 and verse 6. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts and in the hidden part. Thou shalt make me to know
wisdom. Psalm 51 and verse 6. We are told in the heading of
this psalm, and may we remember this is why we read the headings
when we read the scriptures, because it is part of the inspired
word of God that this psalm was written by David when Nathan
the prophet came to him, was used by God to convince him of
the sin of adultery and murder with adultery with Bathsheba
and murdering of her husband Uriah. It was an outward act. It was one of those times, or
virtually the only time, as set forth in scripture, where David
departed from the fact that he was a man after God's own heart. And throughout this psalm, he
expresses his godly sorrow, his repentance, but his emphasis
is not On outward reformation, it is inward. He realizes that
the malady, the reason, the real cause for his sin was an inward
departure. And the truth that he sets forth
here, behold thou that is God, desirous truth, in the inward
parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom,
is that which our Lord also insisted upon. He said of those in his
day that they drew near unto him with the mouth, and with
their lips even they honoured him, but their heart was far
from him. We read in Romans chapter 2 of
a description of the true The Jews, of course, put great
stock on circumcision as being numbered amongst the people of
God. But the Apostle Paul, he says
in chapter 2 Romans and verse 28, he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men, but of God." In other words, a true
Christian, a true believer, is not one that is just outwardly
so, but is one that is so in their hearts, that which is before
God. How vital it is that we have
a heart work. When we think of what we are
by nature, the reason why God destroyed the old world by the
flood, was that the imagination of the heart of man was only
evil continually. He said that after the flood,
before the flood, he viewed the evilness of the heart of man.
And so the world was destroyed by water. We have the declaration
in Proverbs that everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination
unto God. Because in Jeremiah, we are told
the heart, that is the natural heart, our old nature, is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. When we think of the heart, we're
not, of course, talking of the pump that pumps our blood around
our body You can use the analogy of that because that is absolutely
central and it is vital to us that we have that life-giving
blood right through the body. But it is best described and
really the heart, what our Lord speaks about and so emphasizes
and throughout the scripture, the word heart is used to describe
what David in our text says. It is truth in the inward parts,
the hidden part. That is the heart of man. That
is what he really is like. That is what everything that
he does springs from. It is, you might say, automatic
that it comes from that. It's not regulated. You know,
when we have the young children, often they would just say what
they think. They would just see something,
and they will just express what they feel, and what they see. When we start to get older, we
might feel inwardly something, but before we say it, we think,
we better not say that, we'll just modify it a bit. and we'll
put a different slant on it. And so what actually comes out
of our mouth is actually different than what we're feeling within.
And when it comes to the things of God, out of the abundance
of man's heart, he speaketh. And where we have a new work
of grace, God's work in the heart that is so vital because there
is the corruption then that will manifest itself in outward ways. But the importance is that it
does come from within, as a true reflection of the heart, and
that outwardly we are not all the time consciously modifying
just to appear. Like our Lord said, He could
see men's hearts. He knew that with their mouths,
their lips, they were saying things that were different. than
was actually within. We think of some of those saints
of old, we have David here, and David was a man after God's own
heart. But when the Lord says in 1 Kings
15, concerning Solomon, and it's actually 1 Kings 11, And Solomon, of course, was blessed
with much wisdom, but departed from the ways of the Lord. We believe he truly was one of
God's children, but went after idols, the idols of his many
wives. And we read in 1 Kings 11 verse
7, came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned
away his heart after other gods, and his heart, all the time his
emphasis on the heart, and his heart was not perfect with the
Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. And so there's a comparison between
Solomon and David in that way. We think of the case of Asa. Asa was a godly king, but in
his old age he was afflicted in his feet. He sought unto physicians
and not unto God. But the scripture does say that
nevertheless his heart was perfect with the Lord his God all his
days. Looking at his life and what
he said, We'd wonder at that, but that is what the testimony
of scripture is. With Josiah, when they found
the book of the law in the temple, and he humbled himself before
God, it was says, because thine heart was tender, and the blessings
that he had was because he fell under the word. He had a tender,
teachable spirit and bound. before the word of the Lord. We have warnings in the word,
we have warnings in Hebrews that we are to beware lest there is
in any of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the
living God. In Proverbs we have the exhortation
and the warning, keep thy heart with all diligence for out of
it are the issues of life. Our attention is drawn to how
important it is that our hearts are right before God, that we
have a true saving work of grace there, that work spoken of in
Hymn 76, to change the heart, renew the will, and turn the
feet to Science Hill. Now there are, of course, other
important things, external things, but they are not the most important. We have our teaching. We believe
in believers' baptism, that the scriptures clearly teach it.
There are dear brethren that don't see that. They hold it
infant, baptism. Godly, God-fearing, men, women,
in this land, in other lands, in that way, is an important
thing. But it's not a distinction between
saving and not saved. You think of the head covering.
We hold it right, scripture, for women to have a head covering. But we know many brethren that
can't see it, don't see it. Again, it is important, but not
the most important thing. It doesn't come and touch the
heart. There's many, many that are saved
that do not see that outward thing. How we dress in the Lord's
house or out and about. Many great differences amongst
the Lord's people. Our salvation is not dependent
upon that. However much we may beewen, as
right to dress in an appropriate way as those that becometh godliness. The church we attend, the version
of the Bible that we use. We love the authorised version,
I would only use that. But as many of the Lord's dear
people use other versions. They are not lost because of
that. They are things that are important,
we teach them, we preach them, but they are not the most important
thing. And the real danger is that we
make a religion or our hope for heaven on these lesser important
things. Because they're things in a way
that we can try and attend to ourselves. We cannot change our
own heart. We cannot work that. That is God's work, God's work
alone. But outward things, we can do
everything that makes us outwardly look just like God's people.
We need to be really, really aware of what our real resting
place is. Is it on outward things, things
that we do, or is it on God's work in us and in our hearts? David here, he says in our text,
behold thou desirous truth in the inward parts, and in the
hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. God's work in
the hidden part, inwardly. So this evening what is on my
spirit to speak to you on is matters, matters of the heart,
matters of the heart. We mentioned some of those things
that are outward, But what are those things that are inward,
that are of the heart? Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Our text speaks of what God desires,
and it also speaks of what God will do in the heart and impart
that wisdom which is from above. Remembering that the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Well, I bring a few things
before you from the Word of God as concerning the heart. Now
first is this, a believing heart. The Apostle Paul, when he writes
to the Romans, in Romans 10, in verse 6 or verse 6 through
to verse 10, we have mentioned again and again the emphasis
on the heart. It says in verse 6, but the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart
who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring
up Christ again from the dead. So his attention is the heart.
This is a hard work. Things that are being said or
thought or gone over in the heart Really what he said in those
verses, it is not what heights of experience we have, or it's
not what depths of experience we have. It's not that. Some
people, genuine seekers, they think, well, they're not deeply
enough convicted of sin. They need to feel their sin more.
Or others feel that they need some more revelation or visions
or words from the Lord more. and their judging of their spiritual
state, of their heart, by depths and heights of experience. And so the Apostle deals with
that. He says, but what saith it? What
does the Word say? The Word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart. And in thy heart. What is that
Word? That is the Word of faith which
we preach. The word preach, the Lord lays
that in the heart. How is it explained? Well, in
verse 9, that if thou shalt confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. And you see the mouth and the
heart are going together. They agree. There's not a dissimilarity
there. And it's explained in verse 10.
For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. And so in those
four verses, we have the word heart in every one of them. And
he is centering on the heart in believing. You and I are true
believer. It will be a heart word. that
then is expressed by mouth, and the two will go together. Our
Lord spoke of that which proceeds out of the heart of man by nature,
and it is full of evil. And when the Lord, by His grace
and mercy, works through the word, then there is a change
of heart, a renewed will, And it does affect that person, but
it affects them from within, not an imitation, just outwardly
alone. So the first matter of the heart
is believing. The second is a heart that is
drawing near, or nigh unto God. We mentioned our Lord's saying
of the scribes and the Pharisees, how that they drew nigh unto
him with the mouth, but their heart was far from him. Well, in Hebrews, we have a similar
message of drawing nigh unto God. In Hebrews 10 verse 22,
let us draw near. And the whole reason why we draw
near, because we have a new and living way, it is through the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is a high priest over the house of God.
Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water, drawing near, nigh unto God, or coming
before Him in prayer. Our Lord spoke of the scribes
and the Pharisees that, for a pretence, made long prayers. They stood
at the corners of the streets and in the marketplaces, And
he said, it was to be seen of men, verily they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet. And when thou art in secret,
pray unto God, which seeth in secret, and he shall reward thee
openly. And so we have a picture in Hebrew
here of a true heart. One that wasn't false or an imitation,
but a true heart. And what is the description of
that? Full assurance of faith. What is the description of faith?
He that cometh to God must believe that he is, that he is a reward
of them that diligently seek him. Having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, That is, by the grace of God, our
conscience witnesses and testifies that we truly, sincerely are
seeking after God, and that by His Spirit He has washed us and
cleansed us. When we approach unto God, as
the woman at the well of St. Mary was told, worshipeth God,
must worship him in spirit and in truth. One thing that the
true grace of God and the blessing of God will do is to make a man,
a woman, a child honest and open before God. They're not interested
in trying to deceive God, in the Lord's imparting of his spirit,
God is very real to that person. They know that he sees them.
David in Psalm 139, he speaks of how much he knew that God
had seen him from the womb, that there was no place that he'd
go, that God would not be there and would not see him. And there's
this sense of the all-seeing eye of God that even extends
to the thoughts and intents of the heart. How many times the
Lord testified when he was on earth. He knew their thoughts.
He knew what was in man. He did not commit himself unto
man. He knew the hearts of all men.
And when we approach unto God, Dear friends, however much we
might feel, and it is only by grace that we will feel it, how
sinful and wretched and undone, and yes, even the unbelief, and
to say with the man that had the afflicted son, Lord, I believe,
help my unbelief. When we come to God, we would
spread it before him and in prayer say, Lord, I feel my unbelief. I feel my wicked heart. I'm struggling
with the pride of my heart. I'm struggling with my lusts
and my corruptions. And these things are all open
before the Lord. We have in 1 John 1, if we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The question is, in our prayers,
are we coming before God? with actually a secret desire
to try and deceive him, or just to go through the forms of religion,
or just to be able to say, well, we have private devotions. Or
are we truly coming before him, as before the living God, and
seeking mercy, forgiveness, pardon, and every grace and every blessing? Matters of the heart. that will greatly affect how
we pray and how we come before God. And whether it is in our
closet or we come into the house of God and to come to worship,
the Lord knows how we come and where our heart is in that matter. And so then in the third place
there is the exercise of the heart. That is those thoughts
that are going on within. Again in Hebrews and in chapter
12 we have set before us that God chastens every one of his
children that he receives. He doesn't cast them away for
their sins, but He corrects them and chastens them. And under
that chastening, and it may be with sicknesses, things going
wrong, one after another, afflictions, things go wrong with the car,
things go wrong with the microphones in the chapel, Things go wrong
with the clocks and they stop. One thing after another you get
the Lord has a voice in them. And when all these things happen,
it's how are we exercised? Do we just brush it off as just
a chance it just happens? Or do we really start searching
our heart and realise actually this is the Lord's hand. Sometimes that can be very, very
Very sweet. I remember a time over in Australia
and I'd gone quite a while feeling the Lord was far from me. I was
far from the Lord. And then things went wrong. I remember the part of the road
and as I was driving along, going over all the things that had
been happening, He just dropped in a father's hand. And just
the sweetness of realising the Lord hadn't just brushed me off. He hadn't deserted me. He was
actually chastening me. And that was a great comfort
to realise that. We have in Hebrews 12 verse 11,
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous,
Nevertheless, afterward, there will be an afterward, it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby. So under those trying strokes,
and if you read and now know with Job, it was not chastening. It was a severe trial. But you
read right through the book of Job how exercised he was, how
he wanted the Lord's presence. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him, that I might come unto his seat. He felt his distance. He felt his sin. He felt the
things that were happening to him. He said his friends that
were trying to comfort him, miserable comforters are ye all. There
were things that were really touching him. He wasn't just
going through life. and just brushing it off. And
we do by nature. All men have troubles and trials
and afflictions, but very few will lay it to heart or trace
it up to God's hand. God often uses afflictions and
trials, tribulations. In the world you must have tribulation,
but it's under the Lord's hand alone. that will make the heart
of a person that has those things have great searchings of heart,
look over all their ways, go over their thoughts, go over
their affections, go over what they've been doing, remember
their pathway, let us search and try our ways and turn unto
the Lord. So it is an exercise heart We
read of the solemn case of those that have a heart exercised with
covetous practices, whose heart is going after evil. But here
is a heart by grace that is going over the things of God. We think
of Mary, the mother of our Lord, when she heard what the shepherds
had to say. And then 12 years later, When
her son Jesus said, wish ye not that I must be about my father's
business, she pondered all of these things in her heart. You know, she would have had
to wait some 30 years from that first time until after her son
had been crucified, raised again, and really ascended into heaven
and the spirit given on Pentecost. And then she, along with the
apostles, would have clearly, clearly understood what our Lord's
work was and how that he had accomplished it. You see, the
two on the way to Emmaus, they were exercised. Made them very
sad. We trusted it should have been
he that should have redeemed Israel. Beside all this, it is
the third day since these things were done. The Lord met with
them in their sorrows, in their exercises, in what they were
speaking of and going over one with another. How much does what
happens in our lives affect us? Do we sometimes lie asleep at
night? Go over things? In the night
watches, search our heart. We read in Judges, for the divisions
of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart. Does that cause it
so with us? Divisions amongst the churches,
amongst the brethren, does it cause us great searchings of
heart? How that we can hear most, or
preach, Most searching sermons and then go on our way and it
doesn't affect us. We don't put into practice what
we've even spoken ourselves or what we've said is good for others. These things should register
within. And so where a heart is right
before God, it is an exercised heart, a living heart. is mindful of what goes on within,
and there's many, many thoughts, and those often will result in
prayer as well, coming before God. Then we have in Hebrews 13, a heart established by grace, and It is contrasted with not
by meats. Having verse 8, those beautiful
words, the end of the conversation of those whose faith we are to
follow, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever,
But then there's the warning being not carried about with
diverse and strange doctrines or teachings. For it is a good
thing that the heart be established with grace, not with means, which
have not profited them that have been occupied therein. And there
you have the contrast between the establishing of the heart
with grace and with outward things, things that are not the most
important. The Jews in Christ's day, they
had all sorts, some 630 or more laws, regulations, and some of
those our Lord refers to as the washing of pots and of pans,
not like we would do, just as a matter in our lives to clean
before we use them again. but in a religious way, that
without doing this, then it was something that would be detrimental
to your faith. And there are many, many religions,
many sects that have things that must be done. There are works
really added, added to grace, but this is what is spoken of
as meats, All in Romans 14, he said, for meat, destroy not the
work of God. And what's he referring to? Some
say it's all right to eat herbs, and another one to eat meat,
another one a wearing of apparel, another one of keeping a holy
day on one day, or a holy day on another day, All these things
that are not the most important things, that are not to be stridden
about, and that left out which is vital,
which is a heart established with grace. What is grace? In the Word of God it's put as
right opposite to works. By grace ye are saved, Through
faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works lest any man should boast. Grace is the free unmerited favour
of God. It is the help of God, the inward
strength of God, saving grace and grace to help in time of
need. We read, he giveth more grace.
With the Apostle Paul on the Damascus road, the Lord gave
him saving grace, sovereignly met with him. When he had the
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him, then
the Lord gave him grace to help. My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. It is not merited. In fact, it is given. in the
face of active demerit. There's difference with kindness.
You can be kind to someone, but if that person turns around,
is not nice to you back, and you're still kind to them, that
is grace. When we're mindful of how we
render unto the Lord, so contrary to the blessings he gives us,
then we realize all that we have is by grace. And if we are astounded It is like John Baptist said,
he must increase, I must decrease. It is not getting more and more
better in our own eyes. It is more and more realising,
if ever my poor soul be saved, his Christ must be the way. It is his mercy, it is his grace,
it is the only thing I can rely on. What could dear David in
our text, in Psalm 51, rely on? He was a murderer. The Lord demanded
that he should die. Yet God in great mercy said,
Thou shalt not die. The Lord hath also put away thy
sin. Yes, he was to see it in the
time when his son died, that his greatest son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, would put away his sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. And the grace of God comes with
cost, not to us, but to Christ. And so we are to be established.
You know what it is to, when there's a new road made and they
start to put up all of the trees and plant up the sides of the
road and all the trees have got a tube, a plastic tube around
them. It's to give that tree opportunity
to become established, so that when the winds come, it's not
torn out by the roots, it strengthens and is made stronger. And we
need to be established so that we're not tossed to and fro on
every wind of doctrine. You know, in one sense, the man
that was born blind, the Lord gave him sight. He was established
in what had happened to him. And the Jews, they tried and
tried to take him from it, that the Lord Jesus was an imposter. He wasn't really the Son of God. He said, one thing I know, whereas
I was blind, now I see. If this man were not of God,
he could do nothing. And it's a great thing if we
also really established, and when we get those that would
contradict or come with different doctrines, different teachings,
to be able to testify of what God has done in our hearts. This
is not something we've just learnt from a book, and when someone
comes with a better book, then we decide, well, what we learnt
before wasn't very good, we just change our idea now. If we establish,
then we know that what the Lord has done is consistent with his
word and we've known the power, we've known that in the heart. Matters of the heart. When Paul writes to Timothy,
he speaks to him about purity of heart, a pure heart. In his
second epistle, to Timothy in chapter two. He gives this warning. He says, flee also, in verse
22, flee also youthful lusts that follow righteousness, faith,
charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure
heart. Pure heart. If something is pure,
then it's not mixed with something else, it's not alloyed. A ring
on my hand, it is gold, but it's not pure, it's an alloy. And
there's many things that we have in our lives that are not pure,
because they're mixed with something else. But when we have something
pure, if we have pure oil, you think of the oil from the Olive
trees, that comes straight out. If you have an orange perhaps
and you cut that in half and you squeeze it and you're getting
pure orange juice, that's all it is. It's not mixed with water
or anything else. And we have those examples of
where I think there's just one thing, it is pure. And where the heart is pure,
there's not half of man and half of God is not divided. The Lord makes that so that instead
of trying to serve God and mammon, is truly serving the Lord, not
serving flesh on one hand and then serving the Lord on another. And for a heart that by nature
is so defiled and impure and sinful, The exhortations there
is heart matters, faith, charity or love, peace, those that call
on the Lord out of a pure heart, the inward things. And then we
have in Romans 6, the obedient heart. In verse 17, the apostle gives
thanks. He says, but God be thanked that
ye were the servants of sin, that ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. And that obedience,
it flows from the heart. A heart matters. Obedience is
very important. Obedient children. But it doesn't
just flow from learning, it flows from the heart. And there then
is the hidden man of the heart that Peter speaks of in his epistles. In 1 Peter chapter 1, Verse 22. He says, See, ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned
love of the brethren. See that ye love one another
with a pure heart, fervently, being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. Dear friends, we read together
our second reading and it was the Beatitudes. It was our Lord
speaking of the Sermon on the Mount. And all the things that
he spoke were things of the heart. Those that are poor in spirit,
those that mourn, those that are meek, those that hunger and
thirst after righteousness, those that are merciful, those that
are pure in heart, those that are peacemakers. All of these
things are inward things, and the Lord pronounces the blessing
on them all. In Matthew 11, and at the end
of that chapter, you have the beautiful Invitation to those
that are weary and heavy laden. Come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. And this is what he says of himself
and what we are to learn of. For I am meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest unto your souls. My yoke is easy and
my burden is light. The disciples, they spent time
with the Lord. Many times they had to learn
that the Lord's thoughts were not theirs. His heart was not
theirs. When he was going up to Jerusalem
and the Samaritans wouldn't receive him, the disciples said, shall
we call down fire from heaven and consume them? And the Lord
says, you know not what spirit ye are of. The Son of Man is
not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they were gradually learning
the spirit of the Lord. And the more time we spend with
the Lord, in his word, in prayer, with his dear people, the more
that we drink into his spirit, the more us hearts joins to heart,
there is that oneness of spirit. The Lord's desire, His will is
that they may be one, even as we are one. By nature, there
is such a vast difference between God and fallen man, but by God's
grace, He works in that way to make His bride, His church, the
people prepared for the Lord. This people have I formed for
myself, they shall show forth my praise. It is a great blessing
to have a work on the heart that changes the heart, that makes
a real difference. You know, sometimes by nature
you can get people, ungodly people, they're very, very kind, they're
very meek, they're very gentle, They're that by nature. There's
been no change that's made them that at all. There are those
that are the Lord's people that might be quite abrupt, quite
fearsome. I remember staying with a late
Lord's servant in the early 80s in New Zealand, and he was quite
an imposing man then, and many were quite frightened of him. My Dutch friend said to me, he
said, you should have known him. Before he was converted, he was
a foreman in a motor mechanics. One of his mechanics did something
wrong one day, and rather than face him the next day, he ran
away and never came back again. He said, the Lord has made tremendous
change in that man's life. And yet if you compared him with
someone perhaps uncalled, and who is a very gentle and meek
nature, you say, well, is there really a difference? You know, sometimes it's only
when you've known someone. The Apostle Paul often spoke
of those that knew him when he was persecuting the people of
God, and how different he was. the Lord had made a change. And
he knew the Lord had done it. And that's the important thing,
that there is that which God has done within. God manages,
he knows all of our natures, our temperaments, what we are
by nature, but what we are by grace, by his teaching inwardly,
by his fear, by his mercy, by the life that he has done work
within. And may the Spirit bear witness
with our spirit that we are born of God and be able to say with
the Apostle Paul, what I am. I am by the grace of God. These are matters of the heart. And dear friends from this evening,
may we clearly be able to discern what are matters of the heart
And what are matters are external things, things that may be important
but not the most important thing. And the Lord deliver us from
being deceived and taking those lesser things as if they were
a substitute for grace, a substitute for his saving work within. May the Lord grant us those. through matters of heart, the
answer to David's prayer that he might be made to know wisdom
in the hidden part. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. May the Lord add his blessing.