Well then let's now turn again
to the 119th Psalm, Psalm 119. And this evening we'll read from
verses 125 to 128. So Psalm 119 from verse 125 to 128. I am thy servant.
Give me understanding that I may know thy testimonies. It is time for thee, Lord, to
work, for they have made void thy law. Therefore, I love thy
commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. Therefore, I
esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I
hate every false way. Well, once again, as we commence
our thoughts this evening, we have this statement that David
again tells us, I am thy servant. He confesses the truth, we know
that he was the servant of the Lord, and he had the evidence
in his own heart that he was so, so that he was able therefore
to make such a statement as this. And it's good really, again,
as I've often said, that the psalmist is honest in his thoughts
and statements, and here we have a very clear statement And he's
able to say it humbly and yet rightly, I am thy servant. And then, having made that point,
he then goes on to say, give me understanding. Now, we might
have, all of us, a natural understanding. We read the word of God and we
read the accounts in the word of God and we have an understanding. But I believe here, David really
desires that God would give him a spiritual understanding. And that's a great blessing,
when you and I have a desire, a spiritual desire, a God-given
desire, for a true spiritual understanding. That means we
look beyond the things which are on the surface. We read in
the Word of God about the deep that coucheth beneath. We read
the surface things which we can understand, but so often in the
Word of God there is a great deep under the surface. And the wonderful blessing is,
when God shines his light into our hearts, then that penetrates
the darkness on the surface and shows to us glorious things revealed
in the Law of God in the Word of God and so may we have the
same desire that the psalmists have to receive this spiritual
understanding there's such a depth in it because it tells us the
real understanding all about ourselves all about Almighty
God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And our minds are increased with
spiritual understanding. And we go on our way rejoicing
to realize that Almighty God has not left us on one side ignorant
of the great things of the Spirit, but has come and open to our
understanding the glorious truths of the Gospel, so that we come
and really rejoice in them. Well, let us not then just read
a few words like this on the surface and think, well, I have
a good understanding of the Word of God. This digs much deeper
than that. And it's good if it digs deep
into our heart. and produces that real desire
to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And then here, Psalmist
says, that I may know thy testimonies. He wanted to know the great truths
contained in the Word of God. Those many laws which were given
And of course in the Old Testament times, the Old Testament dispensation
as we often refer to it, there were so many laws which were
to be kept. And all those laws or all those
testimonies had a greater significance than that which was on the surface. And so what a mercy it is to
have a light desire, lightness armist, that I may know thy testimonies,
the wonderful truth of God.' Well it would be a blessing if
the Holy Spirit gives us such desires and enables us to earnestly
pray for them and seek for them. And then the psalmist goes on
and he says, it is time for thee, Lord, to work, for they have
made void thy law. Well, truly, it was so in David's
time, it has been so in the history of the world, and surely it is
so in the time in which we live today. Indeed, we can come to
our God and we can pray and we can say, Lord, it's time for
thee to work. How we need God's work to appear,
how we need to observe and to know that our God lives and reigns,
and also to realise, as we read in that chapter in Genesis, is
anything too hard for the Lord? Nothing was and nothing is, and
therefore may we be encouraged and come to our God with a question
like this, it is time for Thee, Lord, to work. And if we come
with a right desire, and that desire must be, of course, for
the honour and glory of God. God's work is to appear, it will
bring forth his honour and glory. And surely that should be that
which we always should desire to see and to earnestly pray
for. And of course, in the day and
age in which we live, we see how our governments and men have
really made void the law of God. They've turned away from it.
And it's good to come to our God and explain and tell these
things to our God. We may think, well of course
God knows all about it. Of course he does. But he's told
us. He will be inquired of by the
house of Israel to do these things for them. We shouldn't therefore
just lay back and think it's unnecessary to pray. We should
pray and desire to pray earnestly and fervently remember the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man avoideth much. So may we
be blessed indeed with that real prayer and that real desire to
come to our God and say it is time for thee Lord to work for
they have made void thy law. And then he tells us therefore
I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. What really he's telling us here
is this. He loves the truth of God far
more than all the vanities of this world. And again, it's good
if you and I have that same desire, that same concern, and that same
ability to be honest and come to our God and say, therefore
I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. How do we view the great truths
contained in the Word of God? His commands, his laws, do we
turn away from them and think they're not relevant to us and
we can ignore them sometimes people say well so-and-so doesn't
do this and therefore I needn't worry well we don't have to worry
about what people do we have to worry about what God tells
us and so what a mercy it is if we have that concern therefore
I love thy commandments above gold yea above fine gold really
far more important than what we might assess as to be the
best things in this poor world. And therefore he says, therefore,
because of those truths, therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning
all things to be right. That means that God never makes
a mistake. What God does, what God says,
is always right. In our little lives, whatever
occurs is right. God does that for his divine
will and purpose. And what a mercy when you and
I are subject to his will, subject to his precepts, made willing
in the day of his power. You see, David here esteemed
these things. They weren't something which
were irrelevant. Therefore, I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right. It's a very comprehensive statement.
It's a great blessing if you and I can come under the truth
of it. And then he says, and I hate
every false way. Well, it's a blessing if God
gives us grace to hate every false way. Because we have a
sinful, we have an evil heart, which often goes after false
ways, because they take our fancy, because we think they're quite
pleasant. But here he says, I hate every false way. What a blessing
when God gives us a hatred to those things which are wrong
and those things which are false, and to seek after those things
which are true, not things which are false, those things which
are true. And we should recognise that
of course the Word of God is true. The Lord Jesus says in
the 17th of John when praying to his Father, Thy Word is truth. What a blessing if God gives
us that grace to believe it and to follow it and to thank God
for it. Well, it's just a few comments
tonight. May God indeed bless his word,
enable us to think upon it and recognise the relevance of the
truth of these things.