I please Almighty God to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's
turn to the book of Psalms, Psalm 116, and we'll read verse 6. Psalm 119, and reading verse
6. The Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and he helped
me. It is a great blessing for us
as we read the word of God and especially the book of Psalms
which shows to us the life of the true believer. insofar that
we're not always on the crest of the wave. On the other hand,
we're not always in the depth of the valleys. God in his grace
and mercy gives us a balance in our spiritual life. And in
this relatively short psalm, we have both sides really set
before us. The psalmist commences with the
first verse which tells us, I love the Lord because he has heard
my voice and my supplications, because he has inclined his ear
unto me. Therefore will I call upon him
as long as I live. We would think with such a statement
as that and such a truth which it is and then the psalmist would
indeed go on his way rejoicing for the rest of his life and
he would never have any doubts, he would never have any fears. But we should realise, we will
realise, the devil doesn't like us to have an assurance of the
things of God. And he tries and sometimes succeeds
in making our life pretty uncomfortable. And what occurs then is we doubt
the work of God. And we perhaps wonder why we're
like this, why it is that we've come into a situation where we
thought everything was wonderful and smooth and good. Well, the
reality is that God's Spirit tests our faith. We don't want to find that our
faith is false. We don't want to find that our
faith is that which we produced. We want to realise and have it
confirmed It's the faith that we spoke about this morning that
God has given to us. It's a faith which will not die. A God-given faith. And so the Lord therefore tests
these things. And as we read down this psalm
together, the 16th psalm, you'll realize the psalmist's desires. And so often we find in these
psalms the true desires of our hearts, that means the innermost
being, our soul, not something just on the surface, not something
just in our minds, but something implanted by the Holy Spirit
of God. Because from those blessings
that we've just read in the first two verses, he then comes and
says, the sorrows of death compass me about and the pains of hell
get hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. Well, you see the complete opposite,
really, from those first two verses. But we should recognize
that what the Word of God sets before us is the pathway of God's
people. As you and I are on pilgrimage,
our journey through this life is one of pilgrimage. We're not,
we shouldn't be anyway, at home on this earth. We shouldn't settle
down on this earth. We shouldn't be in a such position
that we're satisfied with everything around us. We should be looking
forward to our internal home, realizing that the things that
God has given us to enjoy, and he does give us many things to
enjoy, they're only fleeting, they're only temporal. And what
a blessing, therefore, if we are able to set our hearts and
our affections upon things above and not on things on the earth. And then we see a little of the
psalmist's concern in the fourth verse where he cries out, then,
with that situation, then, And that wasn't a fictional prayer,
and that wasn't a trivial desire. That was a desire from his heart,
a concern, as he called upon the name of the Lord, that God
would indeed hear him. and deliver his soul. He'd come very clearly to realise
that he had a never-dying soul, that he needed to be delivered. And it's good for us to know
if the Holy Spirit of God And that's what it was in the case
of the psalmist here. And that's what it will be in
your life and my life. The blessed work of the Holy
Spirit to produce that earnest desire. That's what it sets forth
here. Oh, Lord, I beseech thee. It was a real concern. It wasn't
just something on the surface. If we beseech for something,
we really desire it, we really need it. I beseech thee, deliver
my soul. Again, he gets right down to
the necessary truth to have his soul delivered. Gracious is the
Lord and righteous, yea, our God is. merciful well he was
able to declare that and that is so true and wonderful it is
when you and i realize how merciful god is and really we only have
to study our own life study our own position and recognize that
god has not cut us off he's not cast us off his mercy endureth
forever And then we come down really to this sixth verse which
we read tonight as a text. The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low and he helped
me. So the Lord preserves, not the
complicated, the simple. The Word of God is simple. It's a blessing if you and I
have a simple faith. not a complicated faith, but
a simple faith to understand the great and glorious truths
contained in the Word of God. And really that directs us to
two very, very simple and very necessary considerations. And that is We could explain
it this way. A perishing sinner, which by
nature we all are, and a precious Christ, which is the only way
of salvation. And that would be a great blessing
in your life and my life, if the Holy Spirit of God leads
us to show ourselves as a perishing sinner and the need for a saviour
and the only saviour is the glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what
a mercy if that is so. And so the psalmist says, the
Lord preserveth the simple. And how good it is if you and
I come to God with a simple faith, praying that he will bless us
and he will convince us of our sin and lead us to the Lord Jesus
Christ to see in his life and death, all that was necessary
to redeem our souls and to believe that he then rose from the dead
a conqueror. And now he he's risen to be in
glory at the right hand of his father, there to intercede for
us. And so the Lord preserveth the
simple. So mercy isn't it to be preserved. not left to wander off. We have examples in the Word
of God. We can think of the parable of
the prodigal son. He was left to wander off. Spent all his living in riotous
living. Didn't do him any good. He thought
he would enjoy himself. But it wasn't really enjoyment.
It brought sadness into his life. But what a mercy in that parable
to realise the Lord came to him and he began to be in want. Began to be in want. That's a mercy. If God has touched
your heart and my heart, and preserved us and brought us to
a situation where we are in spiritual want. spiritual want. We realise we've offended Almighty
God. We've turned our back upon Almighty
God and now the Lord in his love to our soul is turning us to
him. Well, it wasn't an easy journey
back. for the prodigal son. No, and
it's not an easy journey back for true believers. What a blessing
it is to realise that as it was in the prodigal's case, his father
was on the lookout for him. To realise we have a glorious
saviour. who knows where we are and is
ready to receive us. Well, what an occasion that was,
an occasion for rejoicing, and it is today when the Lord touches
hearts, changes our will, changes our direction, grants us sorrow
for sin, grants us godly repentance, that we truly do repent of those
things that we've done against Almighty God. Well, the Lord
preserveth the simple. Well, we could go on, but I want
to really come on to the next clause, which tells us, I was
brought low. The prodigal was brought low. God brings his people low. Naturally, it's not a very pleasant
experience, but it is a good experience because it takes us
away from ourselves and it takes us to the Saviour. We read that
40th Psalm, which is a very beautiful psalm of David and explains to
us in some detail his condition and his situation. He tells us,
I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of the Maori clay. and set my feet upon a
rock and established my goings." Well, he'd slipped down into
the M�ori clay in that pit. And he couldn't get out of that
situation himself. And that may be the scene in
your life and my life. We brought something upon us. We've slipped down into a horrible
pit. We don't know how to get ourselves
out of it. The blessing is we have a God
who knows precisely how to deliver us. David tells us, he brought me
up also out of a horrible pit. It was God that delivered him. And you and I may have to learn
that great truth. Without me, ye can do nothing. We may struggle, we may try to
get out of the situation that we've got ourselves into. We
don't seem to make much progress. Well, here we have David's example. I waited patiently for the Lord
and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. It's good when you and
I can cry unto God. Cry unto God in this situation.
I was brought low. David was brought low. God does bring us low. He brings us down so that we
have to trust in him and not trust anywhere else. What a mercy
it is if we can do that. The last verse in this 40th Psalm,
which we read, David again describes himself, but I am poor and needy. Again, that's a good situation
to be brought into. We're not relying on our own
strength, we're not relying on our own ability. He comes and
says, but I am poor and needy. He had nothing to deliver himself,
a needy person, and then he's able to declare, yet the Lord
thinketh upon me. Isn't that humbling to think?
We have a God, a great God, who thinks upon us and is watching
over us. He's watching over us. He's seen
us fall into the pit. He's seen us struggling to get
out of it. And he's seen us acknowledge
our condition as poor and needy. The Lord thinketh upon me. And
then he cries, Thou art my help and my deliverer. His confidence
was in God. It's a blessed thing when God
brings us to a confidence in God, not in ourselves, not in
anyone else, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of
our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, Yes, what a great and glorious saviour we have. And
so here David says, Yet the Lord thinketh upon me, thou my help
and my deliverer, make no tarrying. Oh, my God. Is he come to a situation
where he needed God. He needed God to deliver him.
He needed God to bless him. You see, his religion now became
a reality. It wasn't just something which
was on the surface. He was dealing with his God and
he knew that there was the only hope in God's mercy and God's
blessing toward him. Well, it would be a great blessing
for you and me tonight if we're in the same situation and the
same concern. You know, initially, we won't
be very happy. When God begins to deal with
us, we're not very happy because He changes our situation. He reverses the direction that
we're going in. He hedges up our way. He puts boundaries in the way. He brings things into our lives
which stops us doing things. We're not very happy. But what
a blessing it is when we realise it's God's hand upon us. It is love to our soul which
produces this situation. And therefore we then fall down. We then pray to God. We commit
our word to God. We pray for deliverance. We pray
for help. We pray for God's blessing. I
was brought low. I understand this word low has
a view of a pond or a lake becoming very low, becoming dry. And I think it's a good illustration,
really, if you and I think of that. Think of ourselves being
like a pond. It may have had plenty of water,
and then there was a period of dry weather, perhaps very pleasant
weather, that we all enjoyed, and we didn't realize the reality
that the pond was getting lower, and the pond was getting lower,
until that time when the pond became dry. And there was no
water. And there was no water. And therefore,
it couldn't be of any use to any animals that needed water. And what did it need? It needed
a shower of rain. And what does that shower of
rain do initially? When a pond is hard from a long
period of dryness, The first shower would just soften the
ground. No evidence really of any water
to drink or any water to be able to use. But it's just used to
soften it. And then gradually, as more rain
comes, the showers are blessed. And in time, no doubt, the pond
returns to its former state. And that really is a picture
for us in our little lives. I was brought low. Brought low, just like a pond. The water evaporating, being
taken away. We're carrying on. with the things
of time. We're enjoying the things of
the world. We're not realising that the
water's disappearing. The water's being evaporated
until such a time as there's no water. There's no water and
then truly we are brought low. And what do we need then in a
spiritual sense? We need a shower of blessing. from Almighty God. And you know,
initially, just like naturally, the shower of blessing changes
us. It softens our heart. It prepares us to receive God's
favour and God's direction and God's blessing. It's the gracious
divine way that Almighty God operates. And so we can say,
I was brought low. But in that low position, we
weren't cast off. The Lord was dealing with us
in love to our soul. And it's a great mercy to be
changed from a hard heart to a soft heart. A hard heart doesn't
receive anything. A soft heart is ready to receive
the gracious instruction and encouragement from Almighty God. And how wonderful that is in
our lives when God's Spirit brings us into a dry condition where
we have no concern really about anything other than ourselves.
And then we may be again returning to the prodigal son, a time when
we begin to be in want. We suddenly realize, yeah, we
need water. And in a spiritual sense, we
need God's blessing. And then I think God comes and
touches our heart. And usually that is to reveal
to us his mercy. Reveal to us that he hasn't cut
us off. we're still on praying ground
we could have been cut off is love to our soul it's very humbling
and then you see the showers of blessing more showers come
and then there is granted to us the water of life the water
of life what a change what a blessing I was brought low God brought
the Psalmist low. God brings you and me low. And
sometimes it takes us quite a long time to realise where we've got
to and what our situation is. But the Lord is merciful. The
Lord is gracious. The Lord indeed is long-suffering. What a mercy. You know, in the
next but one Psalm, the 118th Psalm, He gives us a wonderful clue
as with regards to his favour and blessing. It brings us to
this realisation as we read in the 8th and 9th verses. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man. Sometimes when we are brought
low we look to natural situations to bring us out. Well, we have
to learn. We need to look unto the Lord,
look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I
am God and there's none else. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in men or in man rather. It is better
to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. What a favour it is if the Lord
is dealing with our souls in love, which it is. It's very
humbling to think the Lord isn't casting us off as we deserve. My people have forgotten me days
without number. How many times have we forgotten
God? How many times have we got up
in the morning and rushed off to school or university or work
Forgotten God. What a mercy to realise that
God hasn't forgotten us. We have a kind and gracious and
merciful God. And therefore to realise indeed
it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in
man. And you know the failure of this
path The Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and
He helped me. The Lord helped us. The Lord
helps us. He doesn't say you've got to
get on with it now by yourself. You got yourself into the pit,
you got yourself into a hole, you've got to get yourself out
of it. You wouldn't be able to. God is long-suffering, and God
is merciful, and God is gracious, and this really is the path which
shows to us the amazing love of the Saviour. We consider ourselves
so unworthy, unworthy of any notice, and yet His mercy is
great. His mercy is wonderful. And to
feel and realise His favour toward us, that He's dealing with our
souls in love. In love. And what does He do
in that situation? He brings us alongside Himself. He brings us alongside Himself. And as we come alongside himself,
we then observe a little of the great cost of our salvation. Whereas at one time, we thought
nothing of it. We were ignorant. We turned away
from it. But when the Lord comes and brings
us low, it's then when we realize that the Lord, he became low. for our sake. He bore the punishment
instead. Go back to his birth. What a
humble birth it was. In the manger at Bethlehem, wasn't
it? The Saviour humbled himself and came right down to that low
position. So none of us can say, well,
of course, Christ doesn't understand where I am. He doesn't understand
the position I'm in. Are you very sure? He does. And that's why we have
this situation. I was brought low and he helped
me. He helps us in that position. to understand a little of the
cost of our salvation. You see how the Lord works in
love to our souls, graciously. He doesn't beat us. No, He's
long-suffering toward us. And He comes to us where we are.
And He touches our hearts. And gives us a sight of Himself. Perhaps a glorious sight of Him
suffering on the cross at Calvary. That's not anything that you
and I by nature would appreciate. But when the Holy God shows us
what He's done in order to redeem our soul, there's a very different
light shines into our heart. We have a little view of the
preciousness of the Saviour and also to realise that we as unworthy
sinners are precious in His sight. It's very amazing, isn't it,
to think that such a sinner is precious in the sight of the
Saviour. But we are precious and we are
so precious the Lord Jesus Christ was willing to give his life
in order to redeem our souls. Well, it gives us some little
view, doesn't it? To realise the Lord's compassion
upon us. And we're thankful that we have
a psalm like this, the 116th psalm, which tells us precious
In the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Precious! O Lord, truly I am
thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid.
Thou hast loosed my bonds. The devil binds us. The Lord brings us low to show
us where we are, that we are bound hand and foot. We're imprisoned. The devil wants
us to be imprisoned. But you see, the Lord has the
key to unlock the door of the prison house and to set us free. And what a blessing it is to
realise that our bonds are loosed. And we're told, the Lord Jesus
tells us, if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall
be free indeed. Freed from the condemnation of
the law, because Christ has died. Yea, rather has risen again,
who's paid the enormous price, to redeem our soul. Does it not
bring us to that position where we have to say, what a Saviour,
someone who would look upon such an unworthy person as me, a sinner
like me, and pay the price to set me free. no one else. What a mercy then if Christ is
revealed to us as our glorious Saviour. And the psalmist goes
on to say, O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant,
and the Son of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds, And
then he says, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and will call upon the name of the Lord. It's a great blessing
to give thanks to our God. And if God indeed has brought
us low, if God indeed has helped us, and if he's loosed our bonds,
Surely we have something to truly be thankful for. And the psalmist
says, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Now
we have to realize that any sacrifice is costly. Any sacrifice. It was in Old Testament times
when they offered up the animals as a sacrifice. They had to give. that animal away as a sacrifice. And my friends, when you and
I are blessed by God, we are to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. That means we are to thank God
for his deliverance. We are to thank God for delivering
us from the prison house. We are to thank God for his love
and mercy toward us. And that's not talking to ourselves. It's, of course, to tell. Tell
the generation following. Tell the Church of God. Declare
what is done for my soul. I will offer to thee the sacrifice
of thanksgiving. I will call upon the name of
the Lord. And then he goes on to say, I
will pay my vows unto the Lord. We don't hear very much about
people vowing today, but maybe someone here who has vowed to
God. Well, if we have vowed to God, it's a very solemn thing
and we have to pay that vow. And the psalmist tells us, I
will pay my vows unto the Lord. He tells us how and when. Now, in the presence of all his
people. Why is that? Is to give honour
and glory to God. That he's heard our desire. He's heard our vow. He's been
gracious to us and answered us. and we have reason, therefore,
to come and to thank and to praise him. In the presence of all his
people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of
thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye the Lord. We live in a day and
age when there's not much praise and not much thanksgiving to
Almighty God. And yet if we stop for a moment
and pause and consider the great debt you and I owe, how much
we have to praise God for and to thank his holy name. And so
the psalmist concludes, praise ye the Lord. And as of course,
if you read the Psalms, you may be familiar that as you come
towards the end, the last few Psalms, I think it's about from
148, they're full of praise. to God, full of praise to God.
And what a mercy it is when our hearts are touched to praise
God, because he's paid for us the debt of all our sin to set
us free. The Lord, the Lord it is who
has preserved the simple, I was brought low and he helped me. Well, you and I know whether
we have been brought low. And in that low place where the
God has helped us, and in helping us, he's drawn us to himself. We've seen the beauty in the
Saviour, which perhaps we never saw before. What does that produce? Thanksgiving. And what should
it produce? Praise to our God. Because these
things are very valuable. They're far more valuable than
the poor things of time, which will perish with the using. These
are eternal realities, eternal blessings, because it's the gracious
and wonderful work of God with our eternal souls. Well, my friends,
do think, do meditate upon these great truths this 116th psalm
and the 40th psalm, which are beautiful psalms. Well, so many
of them, of course, are beautiful psalms. But it gives to us in
both those psalms a little sight of the greatness of God and the
debt we owe in freeing us from the condemnation of the law. The way that God deals with us
And how does He deal with us? In love to our souls. Isn't that humbling? I hope it
is. And I hope it enables us to truly
bow down and worship the Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.