Well may God instruct us from
his holy word and make it a blessing to us. And now let us turn once
again to the 119th Psalm and this evening God willing we'll
speak from verse 153 to 156. So that's Psalm 119 from verse
153 to verse 1, 5, 6. And this is
what it reads. Consider mine affliction and
deliver me, for I do not forget thy law. Plead my cause and deliver
me, quicken me according to thy word. Salvation is far from the
wicked, for they seek not thy statutes, Great are thy tender
mercies, O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgments. It's interesting in this 119th
psalm, the psalmist uses this word quicken on no less than
11 occasions. And we should realise that he
was obviously concerned to be spiritually alive. And that would
be a really good desire for each one of us. It's easy to think
that we're alive, but it's good to experience the blessed work
of the Holy Spirit, which convinces us and blesses us with the evidence
that we are indeed spiritually alive. Well, we start with a
prayer again. Again, this 119th Psalm is full
of prayer. And it's good to realise that
the Psalmist was a needy person like we are today. we should recognise his concern
to be healthy in the things of God and to pray for it and as
the Lord saw fit to lead him in a not an easy path a path
often as we read here with affliction he comes and pleads with his
God and says consider mine affliction God knows what you and I are
called to walk in and through. It is a life of affliction, really. If it's not physical, then it's
spiritual. And so it's good to be able to
come to our God, who knows the end from the beginning. He knows
all about us. He knows what He's placed upon us. He knows the
reason why He's placed it upon us, and to come to Him. and ask
prayerfully, consider mine affliction. It's not a prayer of dictation,
it's a prayer of seeking for God's favour. Consider mine affliction. And then he says, and deliver
me. Well, no doubt we all have situations
which we need God to appear and to deliver us. The truth is,
we may try, but we'll fail to be able to deliver ourselves. But what a blessing to know that
we have a God, an omnipotent God, a ruler, an almighty one,
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who can deliver and who
does deliver. And so to come with a humble
confidence believing that we do come to a God who hears and
answers prayer. We don't come to the unknown
God. We come to the ever-living God who waits to answer prayer. And so, consider my affliction
and deliver me. It's wonderful to think that
we, as little unworthy sinners of the earth, can approach unto
the Majesty on high, who knows all about us, We can be very
honest, can't we, to our God. There's no point in pretending
to hide things. He knows everything. And so to
come honestly and seek, consider my affliction and deliver me. And then once again, he refers
to the same statement which we read a number of times, if not
precisely the same wording, at least the essence of it. And
he's able to say, for I do not forget thy law. Well, what a
wonderful privilege to be able to say that, because so often
we're forgetful about the great things of God. How often we're
taken up with the trivial things of life, often very lawful, but
in fact really quite trivial, and to realise the desire and
the concern and the acknowledgement, for I do not forget thy law. Again, as I often make mention,
the writers in the word of God, wrote God's word as dictated
to them. And therefore they were very
honest in their statements. There wasn't any mock humility. They came and were honest in
their statements. And it's wonderful if you and
I are favoured to find ourselves in that position. And then he
comes and he pleads to God. He pleads to God. He says, plead
my cause. That's the reason why I read
that chapter in Micah, the seventh chapter. And in the ninth verse,
we read about pleading, and it's very instructive what we read. He tells us, I will bear the
indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him. Again,
that's confession, isn't it? That's submission to the will
of God. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord because he has sinned against me until he plead my
cause. How wonderful to think that almighty
God pleads our cause. Therefore, the psalmist comes
here and he says, plead my cause and deliver me. Deliver from
the situation that he was in, one of affliction, and he desired
the Lord would come indeed and would deliver him. Well, we know
we have a God who hears and answers prayer and a God who will be
inquired of. by the House of Israel to do
these things. So we should not go on just casually. We should often come to our God
and plead with Him. Plead my cause and deliver me. And then he comes and says, quicken
me according to thy word. He may have got into a lukewarm
condition. I'm not told precisely the detail,
but he may. And no doubt, you and I know
what it is to come into a lukewarm position. It's not a healthy
scene. And it's good, therefore, if
you and I can come and plead in the same way, quicken me. And he links that with according
to thy word. The word of God. That which will
truly be a benefit. That which will truly be a blessing. Yes, he knew that the spiritual
life is set forth clearly in the Word of God. And what a mercy
it is when you and I, therefore, read the Word of God with that
desire it may speak to our souls. and not be a silent word but
a living word quicken me according to thy word and then he tells
us salvation is far from the wicked he means really there
that you see the wicked have no real concern about the salvation
of their souls well what a blessing if by comparison we do have a
concern And we are continually concerned to have the evidence
that the Lord has come and made us spiritually alive and has
granted to us his great salvation. And how humbling it is to think
that the Lord hasn't passed us by. He's passed many by. Many have been passed by. Salvation
is far from the wicked and they have no desire after the salvation
of their souls. For they seek not thy statutes.
They have no desire to follow the way of the Lord. Well, we
might ask, who has made us to differ? If there is a difference,
it's because of the grace and mercy of God. And surely that
gives us great reason to praise and to thank our gracious God. And then, finally, verse 156. He says, Great are thy tender
mercies, O Lord. How true. To each one of us,
God's tender mercies If God dealt with us as our sin has deserved,
we would not even be here. And therefore it's good to read,
great. And it is true. And it's good
when we feel it to be true. When we feel the word is applied
to our hearts. And we can join with the psalmist
and say, great are thy tender mercies, O Lord, O Lord, come
to our God. acknowledging his great goodness
toward us. And then he finally says, again,
quicken me, make me spiritually alive according to thy judgments. Well, what a mercy we have a
God who doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve. A God who
is long suffering, a God who is gracious, a God who is merciful. Well, as we've thought upon these
four verses tonight, may they prove to be a blessing to us
and give us food to think about, to meditate upon, because God's
Word is to meditate upon. We shouldn't just read it and
cast this aside. So may it be a true blessing
to us. We will leave the few comments
there.