Alright, brethren, Psalm 119. David had said in verse 155,
Salvation is far from the wicked, for they seek not thy statutes. And as soon as David said that,
By the Spirit of the Lord working in his heart, David immediately
thought of himself as the sinner. How do we know that? Because
the very next word he spoke in verse 156 is, Great are thy tender
mercies, O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgments. The Lord Jesus
dwells in the hearts of his people, and he's going to make us to
know that salvation is entirely by grace. We're going to be a lifetime
learning what that means. Salvation is by grace. When God's child thinks of the
sad condition of the wicked, the Spirit of God won't let us
become high-minded. He won't let us have the spirit
that we are different because of anything
in us, because we're not. We're not. He makes us remember
we deserve the very same rejection of our God that wicked
sinners do, because we have sin. We have sin. This is the first
thing God teaches us, that salvation is by grace, but He keeps teaching
us salvation is by grace. by his great and tender mercies. God saves his elect by grace. He chose us by grace. Absolutely, without any regard
to anything that we had done or would do, it was by grace,
solely by grace. God's grace is the only thing
that makes the difference between the child of God and the wicked. It's God's grace. The Lord had
quickened David. He did that by grace. He had
brought the gospel to David. He had quickened David. He had
given him faith, all by grace. He taught him the Lord Jesus
was his salvation, all by grace. And he kept quickening David
That's how David had not forgotten the gospel of the Lord. That's
how he had not forgotten the law of the Lord. So David, he
remembered the gospel. He remembered the gospel. He
remembered that in Christ, God is just to show mercy. God's just to show mercy. You
have in that one verse there the mention of God's great mercies
and of His judgments. God is just to show mercy because
the Lord Jesus Christ justified His people from all our sins. He really accomplished that.
Our Lord Jesus thoroughly, totally obeyed God and all of His people
obeyed God in Christ. He established the law and perfect
righteousness, obeying it in every jot and tittle, and all
his people did in him. And when Christ died under the
justice of God, all his people died under the justice of God.
And so because God has satisfied his own justice, because He has
justified His people entirely. God is thoroughly just to be
merciful to His people. He's just to be merciful to His
people. It's just for God to show His
elect great and tender mercies, and the reason He does that is
for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a sweet, sweet
description of God's mercies, great and tender mercies. Great and tender mercies. They're
great because they endure forever. They're great because they endure
forever. Have you received just one mercy? Or just a few mercies? Or have you received manifold
mercies from God? His mercies endure forever. They're great because they reach
into the heavens. You think about this, whenever
Peter asked him, Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother?
Until seven times? And the Lord told him, no, Peter,
until 70 times seven. That means showing mercy, 70
times seven. Now you and I, we don't even
know all our own sin, much less all the sin of our brethren.
But God knows all our sin. He knows all our sin. And if
He told us to forgive 70 times 7, how much more great is His
mercy to us? How much more is He forgiving
us daily? Great mercies. Great mercies. And they're tender mercies. They're
tender because the Lord's easy to be entreated. Sinners felt
very comfortable coming to our Lord. He's easy to be entreated. He's easy. Scripture says He
delights to show mercy. Scripture says that the Lord
takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. That judgment's
His strange work. He takes no delight in that.
But He delights to show mercy. great and tender mercies. So
this is the first thing that God teaches us and He's going
to keep teaching us. We're saved by grace alone, by
the great and tender mercies of God. Only grace makes the
difference between God's children and the wicked. Only grace. As
soon as David mentioned the wicked, he immediately thought about
God's great and tender mercies to him. Now, secondly, God's
grace, because of these great and tender mercies, God will
not let God's child draw back from God's testimonies. David
said in verse 157, many are my persecutors and my enemies, yet
do I not decline from thy testimonies. That word decline means I don't
draw back, I don't turn back from your testimonies. God's
grace will not let God's child draw back, turn back again from
God's testimonies. Now we saw this, I tried to preach
one whole message on this, on God's wonderful testimonies.
God's testimonies are his witnesses, and all this book's full of God's
witnesses to his people that Christ Jesus is our salvation. He meets every need we have as
sinners. Every need we have, Christ is
the answer. He meets every need. Now, David
had many persecutors, and he had many enemies. We've seen
Doeg, Doeg was there when he got that bread from Melimelech,
and Doeg went and told Saul. Saul was his enemy. The Ziphites
multiple times told Saul where David was hiding. David's own
son Absalom. There were many, many more. David
had a lot of enemies. But brethren, our Lord Jesus
Christ was persecuted from his birth all the way to the death
of the cross. David wasn't persecuted before
God called him by grace. His enemies had no reason to
persecute him before God called him by grace. But after God called
him, then he started being persecuted. But our Lord Jesus was persecuted
at his birth. Herod tried to kill him at his
birth. And all throughout his life he
was persecuted. He had many, many, many more
enemies than you and I will ever have. And our Lord taught us
not to expect anything less in this world. We're going to have
enemies like our Lord had. I don't consider my brethren
an enemy. I don't care if we're sideways
or what. My brethren are not my enemies.
My enemies are people that hate the gospel of Christ. That's
my enemy. But we have a lot of enemies
that hate the gospel of Christ. It may get so bad with the world
persecuting the church that we'll value more having brethren that
believe the gospel and won't have enemies amongst ourselves.
But by God quickening David, David didn't draw back from God's
witnesses, from His testimonies. God's testimonies are concerning
Christ. They're concerning His Son. God's
testimony is the revelation of Christ. That's what it is. You
read the opening verse of Revelation and people go to Revelation looking
for all these mysterious things. Revelation is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. And that's what, it's God's witness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what God's testimonies
are, the witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's testimony,
his witness to you who he's called, is that Christ Jesus is your
salvation. He's been made to your wisdom.
You needed wisdom? He's your wisdom. You needed
righteousness? He's your righteousness. You
needed sanctification? He's your sanctification. You
needed redemption? He's your redemption. Whatever
you need, Christ is, and that's God's testimony to His people.
Let's go again to 1 John 5, and we saw this when I preached on
this before out of this psalm, but we'll look at it again because
it's important to see. 1 John 5, He's talking about there's three
that bear witness, and he says here in verse 9, if we receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. That word
witness is the same as testimony. It's a testimony. It's a witness
of God is greater. For this is the witness of God
which he hath testified of his son. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. That's how we believe. God doesn't just bear witness,
He does bear witness as the gospel is going forth, but He bears
witness affectionately when He does it in your heart. You have
the witness in you. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record, the witness,
the testimony that God gave of his son. And this is the record
that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
son. entirely in Christ Jesus. He
that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. God's given us many witnesses,
many testimonies throughout, and everything is in Christ.
God testified that We're His sons by divine election. But
where's that election? He elected us in Christ. He chose
us in Christ. God has borne witness and testified
in His Word that He has predestinated each one He chose to the adoption
of children. How are we brought into this
family of God? By Jesus Christ. By the Spirit
of His Son entering the heart, we're born into the family of
God. God predestinated His people
into that. God has given testimony, He's
borne witness to His everlasting love, to His faithfulness toward
His people. And where is it? It's in Christ. Who shall separate us from the
love of God, which is where? In Christ Jesus. Everything God
bears witness of is Christ His Son. Everything He bears witness
that He gives to His people is in and by Christ His Son. Everything
is in Christ. The testimony of the Lord is
sure making wise the simple. When God bears witness in our
heart, we could be Einstein. We could have great worldly wisdom,
but when God bears witness in the heart and testifies that
His Son is all, He makes you simple. He makes you single-hearted,
simple, knowing Christ is all. Christ is all. There are some wise in their
own eyes, and that's not wisdom to them. They're wise and prudent.
There's more to it than Christ is all. If you're made simple,
the simplicity of Christ is that Christ is salvation. If you have Christ, you have
life. That's God's record. That's God's testimony. And when
He makes you wise unto salvation, He makes you simple, trusting
Christ Jesus, the Lord, alone. And God will not let His child
forget and draw back from God's testimonies. He will not let
you do it. He won't let you start out trusting
Christ and then turn again and try to come to God by the law
or by put confidence in your will or anything of that nature. He's going to keep his child
knowing Christ is all. David said, I haven't drawn back.
He persecuted quite a bit, and had a lot of enemies, but he
did not decline from God's testimonies. God kept him simple, trusting
the Lord Jesus alone, and that truly is obedience to God. When
you, Paul said this, he spent a whole, most all his books,
but he spent all of Romans declaring, there is no other way we establish
the law but through faith in the Lord Jesus. That's how Abraham
did it. If a man established the law
before the law was given in this earth, if he established it before
the commandments were ever given in this earth, then you know
that's how you can establish it too. And that's what Abraham
did. How did he do that? He believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ established the law for
us. And that's how you're righteous. Now, so the first thing, we're
saved by grace. That's what makes a difference.
God's going to keep His child knowing that. He's going to keep
us from being high-minded. Secondly, He's going to bear witness in
our heart, testimony in our heart that Christ is all, and He's
going to keep us simple, trusting Christ. He's not going to let
you draw back from Christ. Now thirdly, by God's testimony
in our heart, He's going to make His child love God's precepts. He said in verse 158, Behold,
I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved, because they kept
not thy word. Consider how I love thy precepts. Quicken me, O Lord, according
to thy lovingkindness. We've seen this in David's life
in 1 Samuel. David was grieved over Saul. David wasn't grieved at Saul
just because Saul was after him. That wasn't what grieved him.
What grieved Saul was that Saul didn't believe God. He didn't
trust Christ. He didn't believe the Lord Jesus
Christ. God is not going to allow his child, though, to be puffed
up. He uses even the unbelief of
the wicked, the transgressors. He uses even that to keep your
heart grieving. and to make you thankful that
God has borne witness in your heart and shown you Christ. He
could have left you right where you were. He could have passed
you by and He showed you Christ. And so when you see transgressors
in this world, it doesn't make you look down your nose at them. It doesn't make you think you're
better than they are. It makes you grieve. It makes
you grieve. And we see that in David. By God's witness in his heart,
David, it made him love God's precepts. He said there in verse
159, Consider how I love thy precepts. Quicken me, O Lord,
according to thy lovingkindness. Now David had said he didn't
decline from God's testimony. And then he says here he loved
God's precepts. Now all that are born of God
Love God's precepts. Every command God gives us, you
love it. It's for your good. Everything
in God's Word is only for the good of His people. In heaven,
everybody will have perfection. Everybody will do everything
God commands. Just think of what that will
be like. Every precept of God is good. It's good. Everything
God commands is good. And God's people delight in the
precepts of God. But let me ask you a question.
Did David love God's precepts when he lied to Elimelech to
get that showbread? Did David love God's precepts
when he saw that ephod there? He said, you got a weapon? I have Goliath's sword. It's right here behind the ephod. That ephod was access to God. And David looked right past that
ephod and said, give me that sword. Did David love God's precepts
right then? Did David love God's precepts
when he ran into Goliath's land, and then in a very short time
go back there again? Did he love God's precepts? Yes,
he did. Yes, he did. He didn't decline
from God's testimonies, and he loved God's precepts. Though
David broke God's precepts in his flesh, it didn't change his
new man created of God. Not one bit. That's the heart
in which we love and worship God, is in the new man. Each
of God's saints know this is so. We hate our sin, we grieve
our sin, and we try not to sin against God. And yet, in the
new man, when we commit sin and we're grieving over that sin,
we haven't decline from God's testimony. We know Christ is
all our salvation and you don't stop loving God's precepts in
the inner man. We believe God and we love every
word of God. So it would be wrong to look
at David and David when he sinned and you see it over and over
and over in the scripture and conclude from that, well David
didn't love God's precepts. It perplexes men to read of David's
sin and then see the times he just flat out broke God's law
and acted like he didn't even believe God. And then yet you
hear him declare, I do not forget thy law. I do not decline from
thy testimonies. Look down at the next section,
verse 166. Lord, I've hoped for thy salvation
and done thy commandments. My soul hath kept thy testimonies,
and I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and
thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee." How on earth
could David say that? We see David's sin many times. How did David keep God's commandments
while as yet we know he sinned? The key is in verse 167. My soul hath kept thy testimonies. David sinned in his flesh. That
when you see David sin, you're looking at old David. You're looking at his old man
of sin. But when he did that, there was a new man Christ created
in Christ's image inside of David. that new spirit in which we worship
God. And that new man was holy, and
in that new man, in his soul, it never changed. Christ was
all his salvation, and he loved God's Word, all his precepts. When Christ has created a new
holy man within us, this is the good news, brethren. That never
changes. It never changes. This old man
of flesh is changing, is going to die and going to go back to
the dust. This new man is eternal. It's eternal life and will never
change. No change whatsoever. Even when David was overcome
by his fleshly fears and acted like he didn't believe on Christ,
just like Peter, you know why his faith didn't fail? Because
Christ interceded for him. Christ interceded for him. Even
when David acted like a madman, in that new heart we saw this.
Those words were spoken, God blessed them to his heart, and
it was in that new man that he laid those words up. And he came
to his right spirit and his right mind, though he was acting like
a madman. It's in the new man, by the Spirit
of God, that David obeyed God. And it's only in your new man
that you obey God. Our flesh has never obeyed God.
It never will. There's a part of us that has
never obeyed God. That's why when you say sin's
mixed with all we do, sin is always mixed with everything
we do. Everything we do. David hoped in God's salvation.
He believed on Christ. He looked to Christ to save him
out of his affliction, just as God commands. But that was in
his new man. That was in David, in the real
David. Now, if we only knew David after
the flesh, looked on the outward appearance, we might conclude
he didn't believe God, he didn't obey God. But because you have
spiritual discernment, and because you have experienced this yourself,
You've experienced what I'm declaring here yourself, and God's given
you spiritual discernment. You know David after the Spirit. We know David did believe on
Christ. We know he did obey the Lord.
This is what the apostle meant when he said, Henceforth know
we no man after the flesh, yea, though we've known Christ after
the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more after the
flesh. Where did Paul get that message?
He got it from the Lord Jesus. He got that message from the
Lord Jesus. Paul was speaking to men who gloried in appearance. He said that in 2 Corinthians
5 just before he said we don't know any man after the flesh.
He was writing it addressing men glorying in appearance. And
he got that from Christ. Christ said the same thing to
the Pharisees who judged him after the flesh. He said, you
judge after the flesh. I judge no man after the flesh.
Thankfully, the Lord Jesus looks on the heart He's made. The heart
He's made in you, child of God, is one with Christ. It's one
with Christ. You know, we looked last time
at the section before this, and we heard the prayer of our Lord,
and we just looked at the Lord praying in the Garden of Gethsemane,
and what He prayed. But you know the truth of it
is, it's in your new man, You're without sin and you're one with
Christ so that you can't apply all these words to your own self
if you're just talking about what God's created in the inward
man. The only way we establish the law, the only way we are
righteous and have kept all God's commandments is through faith
in Christ. That is the only way. But that faith he's put in that
new man, he keeps in that new man. And we really do love God in
the new man. It's our flesh that makes it
appear like we don't. It's our flesh that interferes
with this communion and causes us trouble and sin and all the
things that plague us. But in the new man, you're one
with Christ, and that won't be separated. That will not be separated. And he knows the heart he's made. You know, the illustration is
the head and the body. He's the head, we're the body.
And what the head is, the body is. And in your new man, what Christ
is, is what you are. And when He came, the Spirit
of God said of our Lord Jesus, He shall not judge after the
sight of the eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of the ears.
All the seeing of the eyes and hearing of the ears can hear
are things carnal sight and carnal hearing can hear. He knows more
than that. But with righteousness shall
He judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth. By God's grace, teaching David, David knew himself. He owned himself before God to
be the poor of the earth. A sinner. Just a sinner. Just
a vile, wretched sinner. That's what he knew himself to
be. But by God's grace, he was the meek of the earth. He trusted
Christ for all. He trusted Christ to be his salvation. That's a work of grace in the
heart. That's in the heart where it's broken and contrite. That's
the heart he's put in you in the new birth. He gave you a
broken and a contrite heart. And you meek and you trust Christ. That's what made Moses the meekest
man on earth. Every time Moses was opposed,
where do you find Moses? He's on his face before God.
What's that mean? He's casting it all, the burden
on the Lord and saying, Lord, I need you to deliver. I can't
do it. That's meek. That's what meekness
is. You know, when Samuel was sent
of God to David, to anoint David, Jesse brought every son he had
out there before Samuel. The one, he brought all of them.
David's the last one he brought out before Samuel. Why? He didn't look like he ought
to be a king. Jesse looked at him and thought,
surely this won't be the one God's choosing. And the Lord
said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance or on the height
of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth
not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Now you consider
this with Saul and David. Now think about Saul and David. Both of these men sinned. Both
of them sinned. What made the difference? The
grace of God alone. The grace of God alone. The difference
between God's saints and the wicked is God's grace alone. God will not charge His children
with sin, even though they sin. Because Christ paid it all. Christ
paid it all. David was God's chosen child
by grace. Christ had redeemed David by
grace. The Spirit of God had regenerated him by grace. And
he was going to be kept by grace. Grace is the only thing that
made a difference. The only reason he preserved
in faith was by the power of the Lord. You see him crying
out here again, quicken me, Lord, after thy loving kindness. And
that's what happened. We saw David, you know, he was
on the run from Saul. He went to Elimelech. And then
when he gets into the land of the Philistines, and God made
him hear that word. And God renewed him in his heart.
He quickened him in his heart. And David ends up going back
down to that cave of Dullabh and God sends those men to him
and fortifies him with a little bit of an army there. And David's
in his right mind. David's believing God because
God quickened him by his love and kindness. And so we saw this
Thursday when Samuel came to him. David said, As thy life
was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much
set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of
all tribulation. That was quickened David, trusting
the Lord. Let him deliver me out of all
tribulation. And then there's a conjunction
connecting that with the next chapter. to show us how quickly
this came over David. It said, and David said in his
heart, David said this to himself, this was in his fleshly heart,
just that quick. David said, I'll perish one day
by the hand of Saul, there's nothing better for me, nothing
better for me. This man who just said, let my
life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, let him deliver
me out of all tribulation. He said that out of the inner
man in true faith. And turns right around and says,
there's nothing better for me than for me to try to save myself
by going into that land of the enemy. That was the second time David
fled to the land to the enemy. And that was no less wicked than
any of Saul's works. Not any less wicked than anything
Saul did. Why didn't God cut David off
like He would eventually cut Saul off? There was nothing in David. There
was no reason in David whatsoever. The reason was God's grace. The reason was Christ Jesus was
his righteousness. The reason was he was justified
in Christ his surety. The reason was God would not
lose David. That's the testimony of God in
our new heart. This God making you know salvation
is all by grace. It's that testimony. God making
us know we're righteous in Christ by what Christ has done and nothing
changes that. You know what that does? Especially
when you've fallen, when you've sinned and God has renewed you
and restored you. You know what that does? It makes
you love God's gospel more. It makes you love his precepts
more and it makes you want to serve him more. That's what it
does. So lastly, as God delivered David over and over and taught
David this, this is what he said in verse 160. Thy word is true
from the beginning, and every one of thy righteous judgments
endureth forever. Even though David sinned, God
was faithful. Even though David at times showed
he was unrighteous in his flesh, God was just. He was just to
keep him because of Christ's surety and turn him back to Christ. His sins were blotted out and
God would not condemn him. That's only because of God's
grace, His great and tender mercies. And God was just to do that. That's what He's declaring. Your
word's true from the beginning and every one of thou righteous
judgments endureth forever. They're righteous judgments.
Why are they right? God was just in right to cut
Saul off. Why? Because God left him to
himself and Saul did what he wanted to do. He trusted himself
and perished. And God was just to save David. Even though David sinned, even
though David, he was just to save David. Why? Because God
put away his sin and his son on Calvary's cross. God was just and right to kill
Cain. Why? Because he left him to himself
and Cain tried to come to God by the works of his hands. His
own works condemned him. But he was just to save Abel. Why? Why was he just to show
mercy to Abel? Because in Christ, Abel was perfectly
righteous. God was just and righteous when
he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? Because by their works they
were evil and wicked. And Lot was no different from
them in his sinful flesh. He might not have been committing
the sodomy they were, but he was no different as far as being
a sinner in his flesh. But God was just to show him
great and tender mercies because he was perfectly righteous in
Christ. God was just and right when he
destroyed Pharaoh and that whole host at the Red Sea. Why? Because they would not repent
and believe God. And God was just to be merciful
to Moses, and Joshua, and Caleb, and whatever other elect remnant
he had amongst the children of Israel. Why? Because God put
them in Christ from eternity, Christ redeemed them, and they
were righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. The difference is not anything
done by those God saved. The difference is the justice
and righteousness of God established for each one He saved by our
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the difference. You see, really and truly, men are condemned by works and
men are saved by works. But if we're condemned, we're
condemned because of our works. trying to come to God by our
works, or just rejecting God by our works, or whatever. It's
by our works we'll be condemned. If we're saved, we're going to
be saved by works. The law's got to be honored.
It's got to be fulfilled and obeyed in every point. But it'll
be by the works of Christ Jesus. It'll be by the works of Christ
Jesus. His righteousness alone. It's by holding God's grace that
the sinner, saved for Christ's sake, hates his sin more, grieves
his sin more, and wants to serve God and honor God more. This
is how God keeps showing us. It's the constraint of Christ's
love who laid down his life for us. Don't you love? Read that
article Brother Henry wrote. This is how the Spirit moved
John to give us motivation for not sinning. Not like any man
would do. This is how the Spirit of God
gave us motivation not to sin. He said, sin not, but here was
the motivation not to sin. He said, and when do you sin? We have an advocate with the
Father. Jesus Christ the righteous and He's the sin purging, sin
atoning, pre-propitiation for our sin. That's what God keeps
quickening His child to remember. Grace keeps us from boasting
and glorying in outward appearance because He keeps showing you,
you're no different from those others I passed by. Not any different
whatsoever. All God has to do is let us see
our sin a little bit and we see it. And if we start thinking
that we have made a difference and we are a little better, God
will do that. He'll just let you fall flat on your face. I've
experienced it, and He'll show you, you are no better than anybody
else. You're saved by grace, by the
works of Christ alone. I pray God bless that to us.
Amen.