and once again we'll turn to
the 119th Psalm and pray that the Lord will bless us as we
meditate on again part of this Psalm and tonight we'll turn
to verses 121 to 124. The four verses 121 to 124 in
Psalm 119. And so the psalmist said, I have
done judgment and justice. Leave me not to mine oppressors.
Be shorty for thy servant for good. Let not the proud oppress
me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation
and for the word of thy righteousness. Deal with thy servant according
unto thy mercy. and teach me thy statutes." Well, we have the statement here
of the psalmist as he comes and says, I've done judgment and
justice. Again, as God gave him the ability,
he did that was a right to judge and to bring justice about. And
he prays then, leave me not to mine oppressors. Oppressors have
always existed. Oppressors exist today. And the Lord allows situations
and people to come into our lives and to oppress us. And what's
the result? The result surely is that we
cry unto God Most High. God knows all about us and God
knows the reason for such situations. He knows why we are allowed to
come into these situations where we do face oppressors. And then
he goes on to say, be shorty for thy servant for good. And
that really means if somebody is a shorty, they undertake to
pay the debt or the fine required. And we can think how wonderful
that is when it applies to our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He indeed is that shorty. for us unworthy sinners of the
earth not worthy of any notice turned our back very often upon
God in our heart perhaps have said I will not have this man
to reign over me and yet you see we can come as David does
here and says be shorty for thy servant for good and then he
says let not the proud oppress me. We read that 10th Psalm because
it encourages us in these things. And we read in the second verse
of this 10th Psalm, the wicked in his pride. doth persecute
the poor, let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. This statement says, let not
the proud oppress me. And how many proud people there
are about. And he goes on, we read together,
for the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire and blessed the
covetous whom the Lord abhorreth. You see a complete opposite situation. You know, we are told not to
covet, and yet we are told to covet the best things, spiritual
blessings. And I hope we do. I hope we have
a desire that God will come and indeed bless us. The wicked,
through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God
is not in all his thoughts. That's a very telling statement,
isn't it? As we think of that, God is not
in all his thoughts. Perhaps we might think of God
in our thoughts. Think of the day. Think of today. We got up in this morning. We've attended to various things.
How often has God been our thoughts. How often have we meditated in
the great and glorious truths of God. And let not therefore
the proud oppress us. And don't forget the devil is
a proud being and he desires everyone to bow down to him.
And how we need to be on our guard and to realize We have
a gracious, long-suffering, and merciful God. And so, the psalmist
goes on and says, the wicked, for the pride of his countenance,
will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Well, what a mercy for us today,
if we are able to observe that God has been in our thoughts. And then he says, mine eyes fail
for thy salvation and for the word of thy righteousness. What
does that tell us? It tells us that he was looking
for the evidence of his salvation. Again, that's a good statement,
isn't it? And it's good if you and I are constantly concerned
to have the evidence of our salvation refreshed by the word by the
work of the Spirit of God. And you see, it's not all plain
sailing, it's not all easy. Because he tells us here, his
eyes fail for thy salvation. Obviously he was looking to observe
it. He couldn't find it, he couldn't
see it. Well, we need God, don't we?
To open our eyes, to observe wondrous things out of his law.
We need God to open our eyes to behold the glory which exists
in the glorious work of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, mine eyes fail for thy
salvation. It would be good if you and I
are looking really hard to observe again and again the wonderful
blessing and the wonderful favour of our salvation And he says,
for the word of thy righteousness. Again, to be encouraged, to realize
that we have a God who is righteous and God who does give to his
people that glorious robe of his righteousness. And what a
mercy then if God applies his word to our souls to encourage
us that we are in the right way, the right road, and the Lord
is dealing with us in love to our soul. And then finally he
comes and says in verse 124, deal with thy servant according
unto thy mercy. Again, what does that mean? That
really means that he recognised his sinful condition, he realised
he needed mercy, He needed the favour of God and therefore he
comes pleading, he comes praying, deal with thy servant according
unto thy mercy. God is a merciful God and what
a blessing when the Spirit of God moves us to recognise our
sinfulness, our sinful inclination, the evil of our hearts, and to
come pleading for mercy. What a blessing it is. God is
merciful. God does dispense mercy but he
does tell us he will be inquired of by the house of Israel to
do these things for them. So it would be a blessing if
God brings us into a time of need. We recognise we need the
mercy of God and we come to him pleading for it, praying earnestly
for it. Well, it's a great test, isn't
it, of the reality of true religion, to come pleading for mercy. And he also goes on to desire,
the Lord will teach me thy statutes. He wanted to be taught the way
of God. The way the Lord would lead him
in. The way the Lord would instruct him. He wanted to be taught by
God. He wasn't self-righteous. He
wasn't proud of his own abilities. He realised he needed the Almighty
God to come and to teach him. Well, may we also realize that.
And it's good to be found praying like that, praying for mercy
and praying the Lord would indeed teach us his statutes, his laws,
and may they prove to be an encouragement and a blessing to our eternal
soul. Well, may God bless these few
comments for our soul's eternal good.