And now once again let us turn
from meditation to Psalm 119 and this evening we'll read verses
77 to 80. Psalm 119 and verses 77 to 80. This is what it reads. Let thy tender mercies come unto
me that I may live. For thy law is my delight. Let the proud be ashamed, for
they dealt perversely with me without a cause. But I will meditate
in thy precepts. Let those that fear thee turn
unto me. And those that have known thy
testimonies, let my heart be sound in thy statutes. that I be not ashamed. It should be very wonderful to
us as we go through this 119th Psalm to observe how the Psalmist
writes, and we believe it's David, and he tells us really those
things which are in his innermost being. They're not really on
the surface. They're those things which he
confides to his God. And therefore we should be thankful
that the Holy Spirit has granted that such concerns and such desires
and such prayers have been recorded, so that we today, in our day,
we live on the same earth, we have the same adversary, the
devil, to contend with, we have the same God who hears and answers
prayer. And so may we be encouraged as
we read the heart's murmurings and the heart's desires as David
writes and may we each find an echo perhaps not in all the things
but some of the things that we're able to read so that we recognize
that here is a child of God a man after our own kind, a man with
similar passions, a man left to himself, fools in all manner
of sin, and yet a man whose hope was nonetheless in his God. Well, as we're blessed to have
such a psalm to be able to read, may we be encouraged by it, may
we read it carefully, how often perhaps we've read parts of this
119th psalm, perhaps many times we've read it all through, and
perhaps sometimes there's been those sections which we've learned.
But nonetheless, the blessing is when God applies his word
to our hearts and we find we are a companion with David. And so he tells us in this 77th
verse, let thy tender mercies come unto me that I may live. It's interesting the words he
uses. He doesn't say, let thy mercies
come unto me. He says, let thy tender mercies
come unto me. We may think, well, why did he
write in that way? Well, if we consider the life
of David, we will know that he did fall into great sin. And
he deserved God's wrath. And yet he comes and pleads with
his God but he would deal with him tenderly. Our God is merciful. Our God does not deal with us. as our sins deserve. So it's a blessing if we can
come in a similar way and say, let thy tender mercies come unto
me. David needed them, you and I
need them in our lives. And he goes on, he doesn't stop
there, there's a reason that I may live. He wanted to be lively
in the things of God. He didn't want to be found far
off. He didn't want to be found wandering
away from God, but he wanted God's tender mercies to come
to him. He realized that he had no ability
to demand them, but he could pray for them, that I may live. And then he says, for thy law
is my delight. How many times we've already
read in this 119th Psalm about God's law being a delight to
him. He indeed rejoiced to be able
to read the grand and glorious truth of God contained, as we
know, in basically the first five books of the Bible, which
were the only books that were probably available, plus perhaps
Job and perhaps Ruth, but none of the others. So there were
those wonderful favours of the law of God, which he delighted
in. And if you just ponder that for
a moment, to think what those five books contain. They contain
a wonderful account of God's creation, of God's mercy, of
God's favour, of God's leading, of God's direction, to God's
blessing to deliver Israel. to bring them across the Red
Sea, to give them the law of God, to give them the wonderful ideas and directions to erect
the tabernacle, and all those directions which revolved around
the tabernacle. And we see, do we not, God's
great goodness in this. So surely there's much reason
to recognise why David asks for this, for thy law is my delight. Well, I hope it might be our
delight, and whether God may never be anything other than
a delight to us, especially as we find describes our spiritual
life. Then he goes on and he says,
let the proud be ashamed for they dealt perversely with me. It's really because of those
words that we read the 109th Psalm because again in the 109th
Psalm David explains really the opposition that he's faced and
how he prays to God that he will deal with that opposition. He
tells us in the second and third verses, for the mouth of the
wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. They have
spoken against me in lying tongue. They compassed me about also
with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause. And we should not therefore be
surprised that the world in which we live, there are those who
take the same attitude and speak perhaps the same words against
us. And if so, we can come to the
Psalms and we can find there we have a companion who walked
the same way, who understand the path that we're in. That's
why God in his amazing love and mercy has granted that such words
should be recorded so they may be a strength and a help to us
as we journey on. And it's good to realise that
God in his mercy has given such words. Let the proud be ashamed
for they dealt perversely with me without a cause. And that's
quite hard to bear when people deal perversely against us without
a cause. But we should always remember
the blessed life of the Saviour, because Jesus was dealt with
perversely, without a cause. And in that situation, if God
grants us the blessing, as the Apostle Paul desired, fellowship
with his sufferings, we will understand the reason and we
will bless God for it. He goes on, but I will meditate
in thy precepts. Again, referring to the law of
God and the many precepts that it contains. There was a place
where his soul fed as he studied the word of God and he pondered
it. And he meditated upon it. He
didn't just read it as a task. He didn't just gabble over it.
He meditated in it. And if you and I think about
that, if you and I are to meditate in the Word of God, it can't
be something which is hastily read. We won't meditate. It's
something we need to ponder and realise why God, in His great
love and mercy, has recorded such things to encourage us. And then he goes on, let those
that fear thee turn unto me and those that have known my testimonies.
It means there that the Church of God, the true believers with
whom there is godly fellowship, Here we can turn away from those
who care not for the things of God, but let those that fear
thee turn unto me. We join together in union. We join together in communion. And those that have known thy
testimonies, those that have experienced the gracious work
of God, have known my testimonies. It's not a theory. It's something
they've experienced. And there's no doubt when we
meet with the children of God who walk the same path, there
is a testimony to be shared. There is a testimony to be given. There is a testimony to encourage. You see, David then encourages
those that fear God to turn to David as a companion. And then he says in verse 80,
let my heart be sound in thy statues, that I be not ashamed. That means to be established
in the truth of God. And you and I won't be established
in the truth of God unless we know the truth of God, and unless
God graciously opens our hearts to receive his word. And therefore he comes directly
to that point, let my heart, his innermost being, Be sound
in thy statutes, in the law of God, taught by the Holy Spirit. What a blessing then, if that
is so, that I be not ashamed. It's when we know we're walking
in the ways of our Lord, we're not ashamed. because God is with
us. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Well, may we truly meditate on
these things and realize what a blessing it is that God has
recorded the pathway of David, his innermost being, and able
to write it down so that we can echo the words which we read.