And now may God help us once
again to turn to the 119th Psalm and this evening we'll read verses
105 to 108. So that's 105, 106, 107 and 108
in Psalm 119. 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. It's really a well-known verse,
this 105th verse in the 119th Psalm. It's a very glorious verse
because it speaks to us about how wonderful and how blessed
the word, the Bible, is to us as a lamp unto our feet and a
light unto our path and of course the psalmist speaks of it in
a very personal way which it is and it's wonderful if you
and I can enter in to the glorious truth of these words and recognise
that it is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path well
of course the Word of God shines into our heart in so many different
ways to direct us and guide us. And we should be very, very thankful
that we have the fullness of the Word of God to instruct us
and direct us. As I was meditating on these
verses, I was looking at the commentary of John Gill, and
he speaks very well of this 105th verse. far better than I could
put words together and I thought I would read to you then the
words that he's recorded with reference to this 105th verse
and he tells us this this shows a man what is his duty towards
God and man by it is the knowledge of sin This informs what righteousness
that God is, requires of men. By the light of it, a man sees
his own deformity and infirmities, the imperfection of his obedience,
and that he needs a better righteousness than his own to justify him in
the sight of God. It is a rule of walk and conversation. It directs what to do and how
to walk. The gospel part of the word is
a great and glorious light by which men come to have some knowledge
of God in Christ. As a God gracious and merciful
of Christ, his person, offices and grace, a righteousness, salvation
and eternal life by him. And he teaches men to live soberly,
righteously and godly. The whole scripture is a light
shining in a dark place, a lamp or torch to be carried the hand
of a believer while he passes through this dark world and is
in the present state of imperfection in which he sees things but darkly. This is the standard of faith
and practice. By the light of this lamp the
difference between true and false doctrine may be discerned. error and immorality may be reproved
and made manifest. The way of truth and godliness
in which a man should walk is pointed out and by means of it
he may see and shun the stumbling blocks in his way and escape
falling into pits and ditches It is a good light to walk and
work by. Well, I hope you found that profitable. It's a wonderful summary, really,
of this great truth. The word is a lamp unto my feet
and the light unto my path. But let me say one thing. It's
only light to those whose eyes have been opened. What a blessing,
therefore, if our eyes have been opened by the great and glorious
Spirit of God, so that as we read his word, we see things
with new eyes, in a new light, and it enters in to our very
heart. And therefore, this word is then
fulfilled. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. and a light unto my path. What a great and wonderful blessing
if that is so. And only you and I can tell whether
it is so before God. But if it is, we have great desire
and hope and great cause to praise and glorify his great and holy
name. he goes on in this 106th verse
and says I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy
righteous judgments well it's really a repetition of statements
that have been previously made in this 119th psalm but it's
good to have a desire a holy desire a righteous desire to
keep God's righteous judgments, to walk in His ways and not to
turn away from them. Earlier in this 119th Psalm we've
already meditated on the 48th verse and the 48th verse tells
us, my hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments which
I have loved. and I will meditate in thy statutes. Wonderful, isn't it, that David
was concerned so much about this, that effectively he repeats what
had been said previously, but how you and I need to be reminded
again and again to perform those things which God instructs us
in and to keep his righteous judgements. We have a great tempter,
the devil, who endeavours to turn us away from these great
truths. But a wonder it is if God looks
upon us and touches our heart. And then, verse 107, he says,
I am afflicted very much. Quicken me, O Lord, according
to thy word. I am afflicted very much. And that's really partly why
we We read this 141st Psalm because
it touches really on that situation. He says, Mine eyes are unto Thee,
O God the Lord. In Thee is my trust, leave not
my soul destitute. You see when we are destitute,
my friends we are afflicted and we need God to arise and deliver
us and he asks he says keep me from the snares which they have
laid for me the devil will constantly lay snares places of situations
of temptation and the jinns are the workers of iniquity. And
he says then, let the wicked fall into their own nets whilst
I withal escape. Well, I am afflicted very much. Sometimes it's physically. In all cases, surely we understand
what it means to be afflicted in our souls by the powerful
work of the devil. What a mercy we have a God who
is kind and gracious. And so he then goes on and says,
Accept I beseech thee the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
and teach me thy judgments. I'm sure you'll be familiar,
in the Old Testament, there were those offerings, those sacrifices
which Israel were commanded to offer up on various occasions
for various things and they were in those days freewill offerings
but it did cost them it meant they had to give that which was
theirs unto the Lord it was a freewill offering but now remember of
course David still lived in the Old Testament times When the
sacrifices were still being offered, He comes and tells us, It's a
good thing to realise that God does tell us about these offerings
of our mouth. We are to speak. freely of what God has done.
And again, I'll just turn into Gil, who again expresses this
situation very well. He says, but these are not the
freewill offerings of his hands, but of his mouth, the spiritual
sacrifices of prayer, praise. Prayer is an offering, and it
is a freewill offering. when a man is assisted by the
free Spirit of God and can pour out his soul freely to the Lord
in the exercise of faith and love. Praise is an offering more
pleasing to God than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs,
because it glorifies Him, and it is a freewill offering When
it is of a man's own accord, it comes from the heart. When
he calls upon his soul and all within him to bless the Lord,
and as every good man is desirous of having his sacrifice accepted
with the Lord, so they are accepted by him when offered up through
Christ. What a wonderful privilege to
have a voice, to be able to speak freely, to pray, to acknowledge
the Lord's goodness and mercy toward us. The Apostle Peter
in his epistle speaks to us in the first epistle in the second
chapter and the fifth verse, and this is what he says, as lively stones that means stones
which are not dead stones that are alive stones that are healthy
are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer
up spiritual sacrifices this isn't the sacrifices of animals
it's spiritual sacrifices it's the words of our mouth acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. Well, may we thank God we have
these glorious words to instruct us and may we lay them in our
hearts and be very aware that these freewill offerings bring
honour and glory to Almighty God. They are the freewill offerings
of our mouth and we are not to be silent. we are to speak forth
the praises of our God. Well may the Lord bless these
few words to the prophet of our souls tonight.