Alright, brethren, let's turn
now to Psalm 119. Verse 105, Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet. and a light unto my path. I have
sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous
judgments. I am afflicted very much. Quicken
me, O Lord, according unto thy word. Accept, I beseech thee,
the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy
judgments. My soul is continually in my
hand, yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare
for me, yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies
have I taken as an heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of
my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes
away, even as to the end. The word, the word is a light. The word is light. Christ himself
is the Word. He's the Word that was made flesh
and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, the light
of Christ, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And as mediator, Christ is the
one who gave the written Word. He gave the written Word. He's
the one of whom the Word is about. And He is the one to whom every
command in this book leads his people to Christ. He said, they are they which
testify of me. He said, come to me that you
might have life. He started on the road to Emmaus,
he began at Moses. And he went all through the prophets,
expounded them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.
Christ is the light who gives light so we can actually understand
the word. This is what he said in 2 Peter
119, we have a more sure word of prophecy, the scriptures,
where until you do well that you take heed as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day
star arise in your hearts. Christ is the day star. He's
the son of righteousness that arises in the heart that gives
light to the word. and directs us to him to find
all salvation in him and all our need in him. We know this
first that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation,
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
If anybody's blinded, it's the God of this world that blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them. But you who
know him, you who have been given this light by our Lord and taught
in the heart by the Lord and made to understand the scriptures,
The word says, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. He
said, your word's a lamp and it's a light. Note there, he
says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path,
unto me personally, unto you personally, unto each of his
saints personally. God says, commit thy way unto
the Lord. Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. When God works
this in the heart, and He causes each of His saints, personally,
individually, to commit all their care to Christ, and He works
it in each one, there's peace. Because you know our sovereign
savior is ruling in the hearts of his people, and each one have
it all committed to him. God's saints, we see through
a glass darkly, and this world is a dark place. And we need
the word, we need the word, and we need the light of Christ to
guide our feet. by this written word. This word
is a light unto our path, just like the sun lights up the whole
day and you can see clearly, and it's a lamp that lights up
our individual steps as we're walking. There's a mountain trail
in the Smoky Mountains that first time I ever went up, it's a very
difficult path, and the first time I ever went up it, It goes
right up to the edge at one point. And the first time I went, it
was, the Smoky Mountains were living up to their name. It was
so foggy, you couldn't see but about 10 feet down and you're
right on the edge. Next time I went, the sun was
shining and there was no fog. And I went up there and you walk
right by that edge. There's no rails or anything.
And I mean, it is hundreds of feet, hundreds of feet down. This path in this world is like
a rocky trail in the mountains. But Christ is the way. He's the
way. He's the narrow way. The way
is as narrow as Christ. And he's going to guide his people
and give us light along the way. He said, Abide in me. Stay close
to Christ. Stay on his hill. If you was
following somebody on a trail like that, and you didn't know
the way, you stay close to him. Go into this word and look and
see Christ and stay close to Him, and He'll direct our steps. He'll keep us abiding in Him
through this word. Proverbs 20, 24 says, man's goings
are of the Lord. How can a man then understand
his own way? He said back up in verse nine,
by taking heed according to thy word. We have a light. We have light on His commands
from Christ. We have a light and He speaks
with that still small voice into our heart and He teaches us to
abide in Him. He teaches us to obey Him. He teaches us to come to Him
for more grace that we might walk after Him. He teaches us
when we're veering out of the way. He teaches us all the while
that we're running this race to look to Him. We're going to
learn everything looking to Him. We're going to receive everything
from Him. We're going to know how to walk looking to Him, looking
to Christ in everything. He's like the pillar of the cloud
in the wilderness and the pillar of the fire at night in the wilderness.
This is what the scripture says. Yet thou and thy manifold mercies
forsookest them not in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud departed
not from them by day to lead them in the way, neither the
pillar of fire by night to show them light and the way wherein
they should go. Our Lord Jesus promised, I'll
never leave you and I'll never forsake you. He's promised that
he will lead us in this wilderness. And that's what he's doing. That's
what he's doing. By the Spirit of God, he keeps
his word in our hearts, and he's going to keep us looking to him,
following him, drawing us to him for more light. That's what,
when the law convicts you, in the very first siren, he shows
you the law, and you hear it condemn you, and he shows you
the Lord Jesus Christ, he draws you to him. And He's drawing
us ultimately to Him in the end. And every word in this book,
as we go along, has its ultimate, it has its light from Christ
and has its end in making us behold Him and come to Him and
obey Him. But He'll keep our feet. This
is what, He will keep the feet of His saints. Thou wilt show
me the path of life. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, then thou knewest my path. Just like he knew where
Elijah was going, knew where to find him, he knows our path. The steps of a good man, his
children created in his goodness, the steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. He delighteth in his way. Though
he fall, he shall not utterly be cast down, for the Lord upholdeth
him with his hand. He said, thine ears shall hear
a word behind thee, saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when
you turn to the right hand or to the left. He'll speak into
the court of your conscience, and he'll make this word effectual,
and you'll know that's not the way, this is the way, and he'll
turn you. And he'll do this, he'll keep
you believing and walking after him because he fulfilled all
God's righteous judgments for his people. Look here in verse
106, I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy
righteous judgment. We find places under the old
covenant where men swore and vowed to perform their oaths
to the Lord. Our Lord teaches you and me under His covenant of grace not
to be hasty with our mouth to make oaths and vows. He said,
you've heard that it had been said by them of old time, thou
shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine
oath. In other words, if you vow, you
pay it. He said, I say to you, swear not at all. Neither by
heaven, for it's God's throne, nor by the earth, for it's his
footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it's the city of the great
king, neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because you can't
make one hair white or black. But let your communication be
yea, yea, and nay, nay, for whatever is more than these cometh of
evil." One of the reasons that we have to have so many contracts
and everything this day and time is because men don't honor their
contract or honor their word. And the more contracts you have,
the less people trust one another. More oaths have to be made. In
most places where we find vows made in the old covenant, it's
either to show us that men were not able to keep their vow, to show our sin and our weakness.
We have to say, if the Lord will, I will do this or that, if the
Lord will. But also there's a lot of places
where those vows are to show us Christ's faithfulness, like
it is right here in this text. Our Lord in eternity, he entered
into covenant to perform and keep all God's righteous judgments
on behalf of his people. He said, I have sworn, I will
perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. And
he did, he did. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
righteousness of them that believe on Him. He kept all the righteous
judgments of God, put away the sin of His people. That's the
best news. He justified us. Never be undone. And when He makes that covenant
in our hearts, it's ordered in all things and sure. And He makes
you know that. It's ordered in all things and
sure. It's yes and amen. Nothing to be added to it. He's
fulfilled it. And He works in your heart and
shows you He's your righteousness. And His power in what He's done
and His love and His grace makes us willing. It makes us willing
in a day of His power. Willing to give Him all the glory
and ascribe none to ourselves. Willing to abide in Him. Willing
to obey Him, use His Word and obey
Him. But our faithful Savior is going
to keep you knowing. As you're doing, as you're walking
through this world, He's going to keep us knowing. He's going
to keep us knowing that we're utterly dependent upon Him because
we are. We are. So in faithfulness to
us, He keeps sending tribulation and affliction. But that's faithfulness,
to show us, keep us knowing our weakness and know our need of
Him. That's a good thing. If we can see that, it's been
profitable to us. Verse 107, I'm afflicted very
much, quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy Word. We have a heart
to obey the Lord, but we're often so weak, like Elijah we saw this
morning, we need the Lord to quicken. That's His promise in
the Word. Our Lord Jesus was afflicted
like no other man. And where did He go? When He
was afflicted, where did our Lord go? When He was being tempted by the devil, He kept
going to the Word and saying, it's written, it's written. And
He would go to the Father and He would beg the Father to quicken
Him. He would beg the Father to deliver
Him. He always went to the Father. And so he's learned obedience
by the things which he suffered, and he knows now how to keep
you looking to him and needing him, and he will keep us seeing
our need, and he'll keep you coming to him and begging him
to quicken you, to quicken you. Affliction and trouble, it really
serves this purpose, Brandon. It keeps us from trusting in
ourselves. Keeps us from trusting ourselves. When He sanctifies
it to your heart and blesses it to your heart, it makes you
not trust to yourselves that you're righteous without Him. Makes you trust to yourselves
that He's your sanctifier that keeps you separated from yourself
and from the world and from everything that would be nothing but just
death to you. Our Savior won't let us begin
to think our strengths of us. He said, without me, you can
do nothing. And He's going to keep us knowing that. He's going
to make us know we need His power. And He's going to give us by
that, He's going to give us the spirit of meekness. And He's
going to keep us in that spirit of meekness, needing Him. Humble
before Him. We see it when we know that it's
only Him that quickens us. It's only Him that quickens us.
We wouldn't have had the strength if he wouldn't have quickened
us. That causes meekness in you, because you're utterly dependent.
When the scripture says Moses was the meekest man on earth,
it's because whenever Moses was confronted, or he faced a trial,
or he faced any kind of trouble, or Pharaoh's army, or the Red
Sea, Moses would hit his face before God, and utter dependence
upon the Lord. That's true meekness, to know
I have to have the Lord save me. I can't do it. I have no
strength, no wisdom. But even when he does his works,
it's meekness in you and me. And the fruit of meekness, we
still have the pride of our sin nature. You know, we can start
thinking we did something and start boasting of something we
did. But in Christ, when we see him,
we behold perfect meekness. We behold perfect meekness. When
He walked this earth, our Savior, I love this in verse 108, He
even beseeched the Father. He begged the Father to accept
His offering. He said, Accept, I beseech Thee. Accept, I beseech Thee. He's
entreating. I beseech Thee. The free will offerings of my
mouth, O Lord, You know, our Savior's entire life was an offering
to God, a freewill offering to God. He willingly came down from
heaven's glory, laid aside his glory and came down to where
we are. And he willingly made himself
of a woman, took flesh, willingly made himself under the law, and
he willingly obeyed God his whole life, and he did it perfectly.
He willingly went to that cross, and bore our sin away under the
curse of the law. He willingly, as he did this,
and in the whole of it, what he was doing in it, and even
with his lips, he willingly gave God this free will offering.
He offered up the calves of his lips. Those are the sacrifices
God's pleased with, thanksgiving in every affliction and everything
you suffer, thanking God for it. and praise in God for what
he's shown you in it. That's these freewill offerings
we're talking about. That pleased God more than great
exterior sacrifices. heart that's truly thankful and
honoring him for what he's done in saving you and in sending
you the affliction and in quickening you and in keeping you looking
to him and all the blessings he's given you. And so Because Christ did this
for us, brethren, He's going to keep us. He's our prophet,
priest, and king. And He's going to keep us meek
and dependent upon Him. Keep us coming to Him, giving
Him the praise and the glory. And He'll do that through the
affliction. That's how He's going to humble us in heart. He's going
to make us approach God in fear and trembling. And here's the
thing, no matter how severe the affliction is, He said, in all
things give thanks. And that's the free will offering
we're talking about. The free will offering we're
talking about. Accept. And we don't come puffed up. We come trembling before his
throne. Because this is our holy God.
And we come and say, accept. I beseech thee. I beg you, Lord. Accept the free will offerings
of my mouth, oh Lord. And when He works this, when
our Lord Jesus works this and He gives us more light, that's
what He's always doing for us in everything we're walking,
going through in this world. He's using this word in the affliction
and He's giving you more light. And you know what happens when
He gives you more light? You ask Him for more light. Look
here at the end of there, after He's thanking Him for what the
Lord had done for Him, and then He asks, and teach me thy judgments. and teach me thy judgments."
You notice it was after he was afflicted very much. And again,
he's asking the Lord to quicken him. And then after he was quickened,
then he asked the Lord to accept his thanksgiving and his praise. And then again, he asked the
Lord to teach him his judgments. Teach me your judgment. We love
it when our children come to us and ask us to teach them.
When they have a problem, they come to you and they ask you
to teach them. You love that. Nothing pleases you more than
that. Well, that's the delight of our Redeemer. He's the prophet
teaching his people, the master teaching his people. He commands
us to abide in him. He commands us to come to him
and he gives us more light. That scripture says the path
of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day. And this is the truth of this
shining light that shines more and more. We've seen David ask
for God to teach him his judgments over and over in each section
of this psalm. Because the more he shines light
and teaches you, the more we see how little we knew and how
little we know. So you ask him, Lord, teach me.
That's the thing about this word. The more light he gives, the
more we see our need for more light. The more he teaches us his judgments,
the more we see we need him to teach us his judgments. Our children become less dependent
upon us as they grow up. God's children become more dependent
upon him the more light he gives us. In each section of this psalm,
this is throughout the life of the psalmist, in each section,
David kept asking God to teach him his judgment, teach him his
judgments. Look here in verse five. Oh,
that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. He had light. He had said, a young man cleanses
his way by heeding thy word. He had that light, but he says,
oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. Then shall
I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
And then he says, I'll praise thee with uprightness of heart
when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I'll keep
thy statutes. Oh, forsake me not utterly. David
had been through enough that he knew and understood that when
God is teaching us, sometimes it involves the Lord working
things to where it seems like he's forsaken us. He's promised
I'll never forsake you, but sometimes it feels like that. And he said,
Lord, don't forsake me utterly. I want to know your statutes.
I want to learn them. I want you to teach me. But then
he quickly said, Lord, don't utterly forsake me. This is what Jeremiah said about
the same thing. Oh, Lord, I know that the way
of man's not in himself. It's not in man that walketh
to direct his steps. Oh, Lord, correct me, but with
judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
Psalm has said, hold thou me up, and I shall be safe, and
I'll have respect in thy statutes continually. He said, make me
to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight. Isn't
that what you want? You don't, you won't, you won't
obey God. All his saints do. But we see by his light, we need
him to teach us, we need more light. Show me thy ways, O Lord,
teach me thy paths. Hold up my goings in thy paths
that my footsteps slip not. The more He gives you light,
the more you see the need of Him to lead you and guide you
and hold you and keep you. And that's a sacrifice of praise
and thanksgiving to Him when you're calling on Him and thanking
Him for keeping you and then asking Him to teach you more
and lead you and keep you and teach you more. That's praising
Him. That's glorifying Him. That's the whole purpose. That's
the whole purpose. Now thirdly, the more our Lord
gives light and teaches us his judgments, the more he makes
us know our weakness, but also the more he makes us value the
gospel. The more he makes us value the
gospel. He says in verse 109, my soul
is continually in my hand, yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare
for me, yet I erred not from thy precepts. The wicked is the
devil. He's the wicked. The wicked.
He laid every snare that he has in his bag of tricks for our
Lord Jesus. He laid every snare he could,
tempted him in all points. Tempted him in all points. This
phrase where he says, my soul is continually in my hand, it
means I'm in jeopardy. It means I'm continually just
a step from death. This is what the scripture says,
David did put his life in his hand and slew the Philistine
and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. That's what our
Lord Jesus Christ did. He came up against the giant,
the devil. He came into this and he had
his life in his hand to lay down according to his own will. And
he was tempted in all points, the snares were laid for him,
but our Lord did not sin. And at the pointed hour he laid
down his life, and he smoked the Philistine, he crushed the
devil's head, and he brought great salvation for all his elect
Israel. We know from the Word that that the devil can do nothing
but what our sovereign Savior permits him to do. Our Lord has
conquered him and he's just using him for, like he did to sift
Peter, to teach Peter, and so he can't do anything but what
he permits him to do. But the devil's full of wiles
and devices that's so much greater than us. He appeals to our pride,
he wants to make us, attempt to make us feel self-sufficient.
Wants to make you feel that you know so much now you can be independent
of the Lord. You don't need to go to his word
quite so much. You don't need to. He wants you
to lean to your own understanding because when we do that we're
not looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, forgive one another
for Christ's sake, lest Satan should get an advantage of us,
for we're not ignorant of his devices. as He should get an
advantage of us. Peter said, Whom resists steadfast
in the faith. And before that statement, he
shows you the only way you're going to resist Him steadfast
in the faith. He said, Casting all your care on Him, for He
careth for you. And after that statement, he
shows you how you're going to resist him steadfast in the faith.
He said, also do it knowing he is accomplishing the same affliction
in your brethren. I heard that one time in the
middle of a serious trial when I was about 33 years old. And
the Lord brought that home to my heart. He brought it home
to my heart because I wasn't trusting the Lord was working
in my brethren. I wasn't. But the Lord made me commit my
care entirely to him and trust that he, you know, I knew he
worked that in me. It was him that did it through
the gospel. And I knew by that he's working the same thing in
my brethren that are suffering. And the Lord did. He just worked
miraculously in that and brought His people through it. Brought
His people through it. Kept them together. Commit you
way to Him. You know, that's why it says
in the beginning, this word's a lamp to my feet, singular. Each one of us, when He works
that in each of us individually and we individually cast our
care on Him, trusting one another to Him, The devil's devices are put to
an end. It can't succeed. David saw there
was a step between him and death continually. But the Lord had
written a gospel on his heart. He'd written a law on David's
heart. And every covenant promise was sure to him. And God wouldn't
let him forget the gospel of Christ as he went through these
different troubles. He said there in verse 111, Thy
testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever, for they're the rejoicing
of my heart. What is God's testimonies? What
are their witnesses? They're witnesses of Christ.
But what is his witness to us that David took as his heritage,
as his inheritance? What is it? Listen to this from
Isaiah 54, 17. This is what God promises you
and me, brethren, right here. Listen. No weapon that's formed
against thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of
me, saith the Lord." That's what he made the psalmist know that
he had for an inheritance, a sure word that God was going to fulfill. And so when he would be ensnared,
and he would be troubled, and he'd be afflicted, he didn't
forget that. He didn't forget this word of
our God and the promises that we have in our Lord Jesus. You
know, Paul said the same thing in Romans 8. David said, my soul's
in my hand continually. There's a step between me and
death continually. Paul said, for thy sake we're
killed all the day long. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. How are we not going to be separated from the love
of God in Christ? Just what Isaiah said, we're
more than conquerors through Christ that loved us. Commit
it all to Him. Take those testimonies for your
heritage and commit yourself to the care of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So the Lord, He brings us out of the affliction and
we're going to go into another one. We're going to end the world,
you'll have to be late. But listen, when He brings you out of the
affliction, He brings you out a renewed man. A man that's new
in comparison to the man that went into it. That's what the
Lord accomplishes in the affliction. And this is what David wrote
right here. He had renewed commitment to
Christ. He wrote in verse 112, I've inclined my heart to perform
thy statutes always, even to the end. Even to the end. God commands us. Here's a statute
of his. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, from God and there's none else. David said, because of that and
because of this work in his heart, David said, I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He'll not suffer thy
foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall not slumber nor
sleep. And so all through David's life,
he's trying to obey the Lord, he's trying to walk as he ought,
but he's not able to do it perfectly. And the Lord teaching, and the
Lord to send affliction, and the Lord to bring him into some
trouble, and he keeps coming to the Lord. By the light of
the Lord, by the Word of the Lord, by the promises of God,
David just keeps coming to the Lord, keeps begging the Lord
to quicken him. Keep begging the Lord for more
light. Keep begging the Lord then to receive his thanksgiving
and his praise for what he did for him. And that's how he didn't err
from God's precept. Because ultimately God's precept
is, this is my son, hear him, believe him, follow him, obey
him, look to him, run the race looking to him. Just like the Apostle Paul, he
couldn't be turned. Paul fainted not because of the
same work of God in his heart, and he couldn't be turned from
preaching the gospel of Christ, whom he crucified. This word,
brethren, is a sure word, tried in a furnace, heated seven times. That's what the psalmist said.
What does that mean? The Lord Jesus Christ suffered
perfect suffering on Calvary's cross in the perfect heat of
God's furnace, in the furnace of His wrath, and completely
satisfied justice toward His people. And it'll no more be
poured out on you. And when you come into the affliction,
God's not destroying you. God's doing something good for
you. He's burning up what needs burning up. And He will work in your heart. His Word is tried and is sure. And He'll keep quickening us by it in the inward man. He'll
keep directing our steps to Him the whole way through. And He'll
keep comforting us the whole way along the path. And He'll protect you and He'll
deliver you to Him. Committed all to Him. Amen.