Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to our first reading, Psalm 119
and verse 49. Psalm 119 and verse 49. Remember
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. Psalm 119 and verse 49. A prayer, remember, remember
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. But who is praying this word? And who is thy servant? Is it the same one who is mentioned
as me? the one that is praying. In all the scriptures, it is
the privilege, the blessing of the Church of God to seek to
find the Lord Jesus Christ, especially in the Old Testament, where he
is prophesied, where he is spoken of, and where he is set forth
as a real man. Very often in the very expressions
of the psalmist is the language of our Lord. We only need to
go to some passages that are very, very clear on this to prove
this point. When we think of Psalm 22, which
is a psalm of David, Who would say that this is solely alone
of David when he begins the psalm, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Those of us that know and remember
the account of our Lord on Calvary's tree when he suffered when his
father hid his face from him, and he used these very words,
these words then in prophecy, written by David, but they are
the words that our Lord Jesus Christ was to use. And so, yes, David, no doubt,
walked this path as well, and the Lord's dear people will have
those times that they feel as well that God has forsaken them
and in that path they have fellowship with the Lord in his sufferings. But we do best when we find the
Lord first and then we are able to see the path that we also
and the Church of God walk as well following the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so when we have the passage
that is before us here, who is the servant? Is it the psalmist
or is it the Lord? When we turn to Isaiah 53 and
verse 11, We read this, or if we read from
verse 10, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put
him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Remember this is
the portion that Philip with the eunuch began at the same
scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And so verse 11, he shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. And there we have our Lord and
Saviour referred to as my righteous servant. So when we have the
word of our text, remember the word unto thy servant, we may
so remember the word unto the Lord Jesus Christ, unto thy beloved
Son, upon which thou hast caused me to hope and speaking of it
as this is the Lord Jesus praying this. This is the Son asking
of His Father Himself as to be a real man. Remember the word
unto thy servant. All of those scriptures. Remember
the first promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the
serpent's head and he shall bruise thy heel. But remember all that
was said of his titles, his offices, of his sacrifices, his sorrows. When the Lord spoke to those
on the way to Emmaus, in all the Scriptures concerning himself,
it was ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to
enter into his glory. And the Scriptures speak, as
we had there in Psalm 22, of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We think of the word that is
in Psalm 89, and again speaking concerning our Lord. It is said
of Him, He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and
the rock of my salvation. And then this is spoken of him,
verse 27 of Psalm 89. Also I will make him my firstborn,
higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for
him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His
seed, his people also will I make to endure forever, and his throne
as the days of heaven, and all these things are those things
that have been spoken of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. What he should accomplish at
Jerusalem, that which is written on the law, cursed is everyone
that hangeth upon a tree, spoken concerning the Lord, that he
should be made a curse for his people. He who knew no sin was
to be made sin. for them. And so when we view
our Lord in his very real sufferings and the hiding of his Father's
face, then to have this prayer, remember the word. unto thy servant,
upon which thou hast caused me to hope, our Lord Jesus Christ,
as a real man, to hope also in the Word." And so we would see
the Lord in the first instance here. There's several ways that
we could look at the Word as well. Is it saying, as remembering the word himself
and saying to his father, remember the word. In other words, I remember
it, do thou remember it? Putting his father in remembrance
of that word that has been said. Remember the Lord said that he
has given a commandment My father gave me the commandment what
I should say, what I should do. He gave him the word, the words
that I speak. They are the words of his father. And we could look at it the other
way as well. When we forget or when the Lord,
through in his humanity, he does not in his sorrows, in his pangs,
remember that word. His prayer is to his father,
remember the word unto thy servant. Be thou a remembrancer. Bring
it to my remembrance that I might be sustained and strengthened
and upheld through the word of God in all that I pass through
and go through. Remember also what is said here. It is not remember the word unto
thy servant, which I have hoped in, but it is upon which thou
hast caused me to hope. The word was there, but the one
that is praying this, and if we view this as our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, He is saying, thou hast caused me to hope on
those words that were written and set fast in the Scriptures,
that the Scriptures which cannot be broken, the word that is settled
forever in heaven, thou hast caused me to hope through that
word. When our Lord was in the Garden
of Gethsemane, he said to his disciples, thinkest thou not
that I could pray my father, he presently give me 12 legion
of angels. But how then should the scriptures
be fulfilled? And his hope was not in the legions
of angels from his father, but in the word that the scriptures
should be fulfilled. And again and again in our Lord's
sufferings, it is written that the scriptures might be fulfilled. And that was our Lord's hope. That was that which he looked
to. And so when we read the Psalms
in this way, may we delight to see the Lord Jesus Christ, a
real man, one that suffered for our sins, one that has sympathy
with us, that can walk the path, has walked the path, that we
walk, and when we see that, then we can take these words, and
we take them as a prayer that we may be able to use, and that
we can walk in fellowship with our Lord, knowing that these
words in our Lord are fulfilled, and that the Lord Jesus Christ,
according to the scriptures, not only died, but he rose again
and has ascended up into heaven. Whenever we read words like this
and apply them first to our Lord, we see them fulfilled and completed. And when we read, thine expectation
shall not be cut off, the expectation of our Lord was not cut off.
And all the hopes and the fears of all the years for his dear
people that were centred in Christ, they were not disappointed either. Our Lord, in his strong crying
and tears, was heard in that he feared. And all of the prayers,
the hopes, our Lord was whole nights in prayer. And this, our
text, is a prayer. We're not told of those prayers
that our Lord offered to his father and the communion that
he had with his father. We're not told of the sermon,
the actual words of it, on the way to Emmaus either. But he
preached it and we know the subject and we know he was a man of prayer
and we have these prayers in the Psalms and we know they apply
to the Lord Jesus Christ. that may we also have this language
as well. And it is in that way that I
desire to look at it predominantly this evening, that we might go
from our Lord, as it were, and look at that of which the Lord
has blessed us with as well. So I want to look firstly at
a word to be remembered, a word to be remembered. And then secondly,
a word used by God to cause us to hope, to cause us to hope. And then thirdly, some words
upon which the Lord has caused us to hope as a church here. Over the years since the beginning
or before the beginning of my pastorate, the Lord has been
pleased to bless us through my ministry and through the ministry
of his servants coming here. And there's a few notable times
that he has caused us to hope. And I just want to remind us
of those times in the third point this evening. Firstly, a word
to be remembered. Remember the word unto thy servant,
upon which thou hast caused me to hope. The word of God, when it was
first given, of course was given orally, inspired by God, God
breathed. and in time then was written
down and recorded. And the word of the Lord endureth
forever, it abided forever, it is settled in heaven, and it
is a word that then shall never cease to be. It is a word that
then is to be remembered. It is a solemn time when in King
Josiah's time. They rediscovered the Word of
God in the ruins of the temple. And you think, how can it be
when the Word of God can be so forgotten, laid aside and hidden,
that it is not remembered by Not just one generation, but
generation after generation. And when we think of the children
of Israel, how many times they forgot the word of God. They forgot his commandments.
They didn't walk in them. The word of God is a benefit,
is a blessing, when it is remembered. Not when it is forgotten. Not when it is just turned away
from, but when it is remembered. The whole Word of God, we should,
we do well to be very familiar with it. The Apostle says of
Timothy, his son in the faith, that those scriptures he had
known from a child, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. The word remembered is a fence
against evil. It is that of which is the sword
in our hand, wielded by faith against Satan as our Lord in
his temptations in the wilderness. It is written, it is written. The whole Word of God in that
way is to be remembered. And may we be diligent in seeking
to remember the Word of God. But we have it in a more special,
particular way because the implication is in our text that there's a
word being given that is a more specific word. And if you were to ask any of
the Lord's people and they would say to them, are all the words
of scripture the same to you. They will say, yes, they are,
they're all inspired, they are all the word of God. But you
say to them, Bert, are they all as precious to you as one or
as another? Or has God made one particular
word more precious? And they will all say that they
do have words that have been given them that are precious. The Lord has blessed those words
to them. Those words have been brought
to their remembrance in times of sorrow, in times of grief,
in times of need. They've been words of consolation. They've been words of direction.
They've been words of help. They've been words that have
revealed the Lord Jesus Christ and caused our hearts to leap
And whenever we come across those words in the scripture, we see
the Lord there, and if we don't still remember it with sweetness,
we remember that word has been given us from the Lord. And so those words are words
that are to be remembered. Forever, O God, thy word is settled
in heaven. And we may know when the Lord
speaks to his people, that he remembers that word. And it is
a word that they also are to lay up and to remember. May we, when we go to read the
word of God, when we hear the word of God preached, our desire
that the Lord be pleased to give us his particular word. It may be over the years of our
profession, that we have heard the Word of God read and preached
many, many times. Those of us that read methodically
through the Word of God, we may read through the whole of the
Word of God once a year, the Psalms twice, the Gospels twice. In a way, we should be very familiar
with the Word of God, and yet Again, if you were asked, well,
what word really stood out? What was a real help? What had
been really blessed? And there would be, perhaps not
many, but there would be some of the words of scripture that
are words that have been given, we have felt, so specially to
us. a word to be remembered. When the Lord does speak through
the ministry, speak through his word, it is repurpose. And I believe I approve this,
that though he may have given to one of his people a word 40
years ago, that word is still of use, of help to them, right
the way through their lives. It is a word that does not wear
out. The Lord has given it as a help,
a word to be remembered. We're not to cast away that word. We're not to think, well, what
I need is fresh blessings, new words and new blessings. Yes,
we would pray for our coast to be enlarged and the Lord give
us fresh words, fresh discoveries of himself, fresh sweetness in
parts of the word of God that we haven't felt it before, but
it is a blessing renewed. when the Holy Spirit, the Remembrancer,
is pleased to remember to us those words from years ago, make
them new, fresh again, and implied in that is that the Lord doesn't
change, He remembers, and He gives it to us again. Perhaps
if we use the illustration of the rainbow, when God spake the
word, to Noah and he spake it to us that he would not again
flood the world and destroy it with a flood. And so as a token
whenever a cloud came over the earth that the Lord would set
a bow in that cloud. I do set my bow in the cloud
and I will look upon it and I will remember my covenant that I made
with all flesh. Well, we look upon it, and we
remember that God has said he looks upon it, and we remember
what he has said, that he will not bring a flood of water. And there is a word that was
spoken some 4,000 years ago, and yet those that remember that
word, those that know that word is the word of God. In those
times of rain, those times they see the bow, They remember that
word. They don't need a new word. They
don't need something different. For that occasion, for that need,
that is sufficient. And it's to know that the God
who set the bow there 4,000 years ago still sets it there and still
remembers his word. And so those words are words
to be remembered. And if you and I have words like
that, that have been given in times that we have had trial
and sorrows and need, then that also is to be used again and
again through our lives. Sometimes it will be that we
remember the word and we will pray to our God that he would
remember it. We'll put him in remembrance
and he's honoured and glorified in that. Other times it will
be like with Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar knew that he'd
had a dream but he couldn't remember what the dream was. And I find
many times in my life, there's been some times I've thought
if someone came to me now And they asked me to write down the
words that God has blessed to me and those where he's given
me liberty, where those where he's sent me into the ministry. Then I'd sit there with the pen
poised over the paper and I wouldn't write anything down because I
couldn't remember. And it was as if nothing had
been given and there's just a blank and I'm just not being able to
remember, but I know there was words and I know the Lord has
blessed me and he has helped me. And it's in those times that
we pray this prayer in the way, asking the Lord to remember the
word unto us. This is why we read the portion
in John's Gospel, where our Lord told of the coming of the Comforter,
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. He shall
teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance
whatsoever I have said unto you. In other words, He shall bring
words to your remembrance, my words, God's words, the words
of our Lord. And it is not just the whole
word of God, it is what I have said unto you. And so those times that we can't
remember, and that's our infirmity and our weakness, those are times
that we should be encouraged to pray this prayer, Remember
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. We think of the title here of
our Lord being the servant, but what a blessed title that that
is for us in connection with asking that the word that has
been given us be remembered to us, because very often It has
been a word in connection with bringing us to be the servants
of the true and living God. It was said of our Lord, who
gave thee this authority? And by what authority doest thou
these things? Our Lord testified of that of
which his Father gave him that authority. And every minister
needs that authority too. and that is given from above. And the Lord knows it, and he
is able to remind his servants when they are discouraged, disheartened,
when they are cast down of those words that the Lord has given
them, upon which they have been caused to hope. But there are
those words to Be remembered. Cast not away your confidence. And maybe those of you this evening,
ready to cast away your confidence, ready to forget or to cast away
the words that God has given you, but turn them instead into
a prayer. Remember the word unto thy servant. Those who feel that There is
nothing we can remember, lest that God would remember them
unto us. It is a blessed thing to have,
as it were, the cup of salvation, and in it place the words of
God. Everyone shall receive of thy
words. Jeremiah said, Thy words were
found, and I did eat them. They were to the joy and rejoicing
of my soul. And our Lord testified, man shall
not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God. And where was that first given
to the Church of God? In the book of Deuteronomy through
Moses. And our Lord takes not a different
word, not another word, but that word, and brings that again to
the Church of God. How many times through the Scriptures
do we hear it not once but twice? And the word is repeated and
sometimes right the way through the Scriptures. The Gospels,
of course, speak of the testimony of four of the Lord's life and
death and resurrection. A word to be remembered. Bless
the Lord if we have a word to be remembered and a remembrancer
that is pleased from time to time to bring a word to our remembrance. But I look secondly at a word
used by God to cause us to hope. And this is the specific word
that is spoken of here. Remember the word unto thy servant,
upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Now if we join this with the next
verse, this is my comfort in my affliction. For thy word hath
quickened me." We may say that same word that caused a hope
is the same word that gave life. And it is a word that was given
before but is now to be a comfort in affliction. And the context
here more points to the fact that there is a remembrance of
this word and a pleading that the Lord would remember it. It is a word that God used to
cause us to home. And we are told in this, God
uses his word. The word of God is used, it is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness,
that a man of God may be through thee ready for every good work,
furnished unto every good work. The Word of God through the ages
has been used to direct His people. We think of Moses at the Red
Sea saying to the people that they stand still and then saying
to them that they go forward And the Word of God was used
in that way. The Word of God was used to forbid
the madness of the prophet of Balaam by opening even the ass's
mouth to speak to the prophet. We have the Word of God that
was given to the children of Israel in the commandments and
given to us in the tables of the law, the two tables. the
word of the law, the word of the gospel. The Apostle Paul
is very clear concerning the law, that it is good if a man
use it lawfully. And so the word has a use, and
God uses his word. It is not just cast down or put
before men And men decide how they're going to use it or what
they're going to do with it, but God uses it. And so here, this psalmist is
able to clearly point to a word that God has used to cause him
to hope. Remember the word unto thy servant
upon which thou hast caused me, to hope we are saved by hope
hope that is not seen is the hope that is seen is not hope
what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for but when we are
given the word and god then has so blessed that and raised up
in our hearts a hope that hope comes from god and i say that
to the encouragement of any of you that have been caused to
hope, to emphasise this, you have not grasped that hope yourself. God has given you that hope based
upon the Word that He has given. The thing has been joined together. There's been a foundation. Thou saidst, I will surely do
thee good. The Word that the Lord was pleased
to give to his people, has raised up such hope for them. We think
of in New Testament times with dear Simeon, the Spirit saying
to him that he should not see death till he has seen the Lord's
Christ. And that was brought to pass.
No doubt he hoped and hoped in that. That word had caused him
to hope that he should see this. And so with all the words of
the prophets through the years, the Church of God, the hope was
in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so with the Church
of God and each individual member of it, the Lord blesses his people
with a hope in his mercy, with a hope of heaven, with a hope
of help from himself, with a hope in the precious blood of Christ,
with a hope of being numbered amongst the people of God. And
that hope has been raised up again and again through the Word
that has been given to them. God has caused it to be so. He's made it to be so. We think
of this in relation to other things as well. We have the psalmist
in this portion as well speaking of the affliction, that it is
good for me, in verse 71, that I have been afflicted, that I
might learn thy statutes. Affliction on its own doesn't
teach anything, but when the Lord uses it, then it does. And the Word, when it is mixed
with faith, and who is it that gives faith? Faith is the gift
of God. The word did not profit them,
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. But where
the Lord joins faith and causes that word then, does not return
unto him void, but accomplishes the thing whereto he sent it. How many words, as the Lord accomplished
things in your life and mine. There's something to go home
and really meditate upon or in your homes to go over what has
the Lord accomplished in your life and in mine through his
word being blessed to us, being applied to us and showing us
the way that we should go. Remember the Lord as the good
shepherd says that my sheep they hear my voice or they hear my
word and they follow me. It has an effect, a drawing effect. So our second point, a word used
by God to cause us to hope and join to that is that really that
same word has given us life. It has quickened us. It has made
us to be alive. And may the Holy Spirit ever
bring that to our remembrance. May He cause us never to forget
it, and where we remember it, by the grace and blessing of
God and through the Spirit's work, that we then put the Lord
in remembrance and plead with Him for His name's sake, for
His word's sake, that He would do these things. Thou saidst,
I will surely do thee good. I wanted then in the third place
to look at some words that the Lord has been pleased to use
over the years and make to be special to us here. Some words
upon which the Lord has caused us to hope as a church. When I preached here in 1997, the early part of that year,
I preached my probation three months. And the very last sermon
of that time, the Lord was pleased to bless the word to one of the
company that was with us then, a good congregation that we had
then. And the word was this, in Isaiah
26 and verse 19. Thy dead men shall live. Together
with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing ye that
dwell in dust. For thy dew is as the dew of
herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. I never forget
the sense in the middle hymn, as I sat in the pulpit before
standing up to preach, of the power of the Spirit and the Lord
with me on that occasion. And when finished preaching,
the young lady that was at the organ that she got up and went
down the chapel, said to her mother, I must come now. And
that's what the Lord used to bring her to baptism. We remember those times, the
power, the effect, the word. I've preached from the word several
times since. It's always been a word I remember
as being a special word. Then we had on my induction services
here, a word that was preached to us by Mr. Robert Field, pastor
at Dicker now, he was pastor at Ashwell then. And that word
was Psalm 126. The Lord hath done great things
for them. The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. It was a word that was said here
in the text, among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things
for them. And it is a word that, again,
I've never forgotten because it's speaking of blessings that
others can see from outside and blessings that we ourselves know
as well. And it's a word I often plead.
that the Lord will so bless us in this way, that both parts
will be fulfilled, that it will be seen by others, seen even
by the heathen, those that know not the Lord, and that we will
be able to testify as well that the Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. Then we have a word that was
brought to us by the late Seth Mercer, and I can't remember
the exact time when it was, but reasonably early on in the pastoral. It is Revelation 3 and verse
8. I have set before thee an open
door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength
and hast kept my word and hast not denied my name." That word
is to a small church. Philadelphia was a small church. A church that had low numbers
and no doubt financially low as well, but they were spiritually
strong. And they had an open door. to
spread the gospel, to preach the word, and for that word to
be blessed. And the Lord has not shut the
door here. And this has been such an encouragement
to me over the years. I remember it being preached,
and again, it's the word that I often will plead before the
Lord. that here sat an open door, the
opportunities of preaching the gospel and the expectation that
hearts will be open to receive the word. Then we had a word
brought before us again by one of the late dear brethren, Peter
Cottingham. In the midst of our troubles
that we had here some 16 years ago, And he brought this word
in John 13 and verse 7. It is when Simon Peter objected
to the Lord washing his feet. Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. There are many things that we
don't understand, we don't understand as a church, we don't understand
personally. There are many things that the
Lord does that he doesn't explain until afterwards. In this case,
he explained very soon afterwards what he was doing and why. When
dear Jacob had his beloved Joseph taken from him, The Lord didn't
explain to him what was happening. For 20 years he believed his
son was dead, and yet the Lord revealed it in due time. It was said then, in effect,
to dear Jacob, what I do thou knowest not now, thou shalt know
hereafter. We might think, well, do we have
to wait 20 years? It might be longer than that.
But dear Jacob did find out, and he did see Joseph, and he
did see what the Lord was doing. And so again, this is a word
that we remember very well. It belongs to us as a church
and congregation here to plead, to be as an anchor and a help,
and to cast unto the Lord those things that we cannot understand. Then we had a word that was brought
to us by our dear brother at Asheville, Alf Chapman, at one
of our Thanksgiving services and is found in Isaiah and chapter
27 and verse 2. In that day, sing ye unto her
a vineyard of red wine. I, the Lord, do keep it. I will water it every moment,
lest any hurt it. I will keep it night and day. Remember him bringing that word. And that was so precious at the
time. And again, a word being pleaded
many, many times. The Lord would make us to be,
as a church, a congregation, that is a blood-bought people,
a people that trust in the precious blood of Christ. They're like
those in Egypt that shouted, when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. They're determined to know nothing
among men save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. A vineyard, the
Lord's vineyard, but of red wine, the precious blood of Christ,
and set forth in the Lord's supper. But then it is what the Lord
said that he would do. I, the Lord, do keep it. I will
water it every moment, lest any hurt it. I will keep it night
and day." And it is a precious word again to us as a people
here. I've no doubt there are other
words. And for them, this then of our
text will be our prayer and our plea. Remember the word, and
to thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Personally, over the years, there's
been many such words, and no doubt with you as well. Words
of scripture that you go back to again and again in your dark
times, in your times of sorrow. Words of scripture that are brought
to your remembrance by the Holy Spirit that pick you up when
you're so low, disheartened, sad and sorrowful. And you bless
the Lord for them. They cause you to hope in the
beginning. And they cause us to hope as
we go along the way. Some of those words have been
used to really quicken us, give us life. The Lord called us by
grace through them. And those words are a help as
we go through even yet darker valleys and times of sorrows. And when we come to that last
river in the Jordan of death, to remember as we are commanded
to all the way that the Lord our God did lead us through the
wilderness. And through that way there'll
be the word spoken, the helps that have been given, the blessings
that we have received. So this is a precious word, a
word that is a remembered word of hope. Remember the word unto
thy servant upon which thou has caused me to hope. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.