souls. Well as the Lord may help us
we'll continue our meditation in the 119th Psalm and this evening
we'll think upon verses 37 to 40. Psalm 119 verses 37 to 40
and we just read those four verses. Turn away my eyes from beholding
vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way. Establish thy word unto
thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. Turn away my reproach,
which I fear, for thy judgments are good. Behold, I've longed
after thy precepts, quicken me in thy righteousness. Well these are just four verses
in this long psalm but it does give to us really a good view
of the psalmist's spiritual life and what they show to us is his
desire for liveliness and spiritual health and also the conflict
with our nature. Surely that's the path of the
true believer, a desire to be found living closer to the Lord. And that's why we have these
words twice in this short four verses that he might be quickened,
which means to be made spiritually alive. and yet on the other hand
to realise he wanted his eyes to be turned away from beholding
vanity and how easy it is for not only our eyes to behold vanity
but also to recognise that of course all our thoughts we need
the Holy Spirit to direct us and not leave us in our thoughts
to those which are purely vanity. And we know that the things in
this world are vanity and indeed not only vanity but also vexation
of spirit. Solomon so ably proved it when
he was able to endeavour to find happiness in the poor things
of time and he had to conclude all is vanity of vanity and vexation
of spirit. Now of course Solomon lived after
these words were spoken but nonetheless they're very true and they echo
the words of Solomon and they echo really the words of the
true believer who recognizes the difficulty that the living
China God faces. with so much coming into their
minds and before their eyes and so easily we can be taken away
in our minds, in our thoughts from the great and glorious truths
of God. The devil is a very able advocate,
a very able enemy because he knows what our
weaknesses are. Each one of us have weaknesses
and he knows precisely what they are and therefore he directs
our thoughts and directs our sight and our eyes sometimes
to those things which do not profit and bring barrenness into
our souls. And that's why he comes and says
here, desires and praise turn away mine eyes from beholding
vanity. And on the other side, he didn't
leave it there. He then said, and quicken thou
me in thy way. That means the Lord's way. He
wanted to be directed and lively in the right way, the way which
leads to eternal life. And it's good for us today if
our hearts and minds are set upon things above. and not on
things on the earth. And he goes on to desire that
he might be established. Establish thy word unto thy servant. How good it is to be established
in the Word of God. Because we won't be established
in the Word of God if we don't read the Word of God. And the
great favour for us is that we have the Word of God in our own
language. And we are able to read it. And what a blessing
it is that as we read it, we are established in the Word of
God. And it speaks to our souls, just
like the Psalm is designed here. Establish thy word unto thy servant. He wanted it to be applied. and how good it is for us today
if we also desire that God's Word may be applied to our soul. And then he says, Who is devoted
to thy fear? Well that again is a wonderful
blessing if the Spirit of God enables us to be devoted to the
fear of the Lord, which as we know is the beginning of wisdom. That was the psalmist's desire.
May it be our concern and our desire who is devoted to thy
fear. And then he says, turn away my
reproach which I fear. The Church of God does suffer
reproach. The world causes reproach and
sometimes we fear what perhaps men will say. But he asks that
the Lord might turn those thoughts of others away which he did fear
might come upon him. He was a man like we are, no
different than a psalmist. He had fears like we do and he
was able to come and commit himself and his way to his God. These
things are very necessary and important for us today, as we
may come and pray to our God in light way and say, turn away
my reproach, which I fear. And then he confirms for my judgments
are good. The Psalmist never disagreed
with God's word. He never disagreed with his laws. He never disagreed with his judgments. And it's good to see that he
comes and says, for thy judgments are good. Because we know God
is a perfect God, and he has a perfect judgment. And whatever
that may mean in your life and my life, It's good to realize
that such words are true, for thy judgments are good. And therefore, as perhaps God
may sometimes bring his judgments into our life, to realize they
don't just come by chance. They are ordained by Almighty
God for our souls' eternal spiritual good. And then he comes on and
says, Behold, I've longed after thy precepts. And it's interesting,
he refers in his book of Psalms, I think it's 21 times, to the
precepts of God in his 119th Psalm. Again and again he refers
to God's precepts. And he comes and says, behold,
it's something to notice, something to remember, that here the psalmist
has longed after thy precepts, God's laws, those things which
are our commands and mandates, he longed after them to be a
true follower of his great and glorious Saviour. What a mercy
it is if you and I also today long after the after the precepts
of Almighty God. And then he concludes this 40th
verse with again this word, Quicken, make me alive in thy righteousness,
to understand God's righteousness, to understand the great and glorious
blessing of having that robe of Christ's righteousness put
upon us to cover our nakedness. It's a wonderful, wonderful blessing. And so that was his prayer, quicken
me in thy righteousness, not to have it passed over. A blessing
indeed to be established in the things of God. Well, there's
many things really in these four verses to ponder, to go away
and think about. May we do so, so that our souls
may be strengthened and encouraged, and that we may realise the right
direction, that we should be found walking in and praying
our way forward, desiring that the Lord would indeed come and
do us good.