May it please God to once again
bless us as we meditate in the 119th Psalm, and this evening
we'll speak from verses 21 to 24. So that's Psalm 119, reading
verses 21 to 24. And they read as follows. Thou hast rebuked the proud that
are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. Remove from
me reproach and contempt, for I have kept thy testimonies.
Princes also did sit and speak against me, but thy servant did
meditate in thy statutes. Thy testament is also on my delight
and my counsellors. So these four verses start with
a very solemn situation, really. The Lord says thou hast rebuked
the proud that are cursed, which to err for thy commandments. And in the word of God, there
are a number of, we might think, eminent people who came under
this category. We can think of Cain, right back
in the beginning, the son of Adam and Eve. And of course,
he did that which was wrong. He offered a wrong sacrifice. He had a wrong motive and he
expected God to recognize what he was offering. And we find
that he was proud and that he was sadly cursed. He was not one of the Lord's
children and yet he was privileged to be on the earth with just
Adam and Eve and his brother Abel. And so we see how we need
to remember that God is a sovereign God and God calls whom he will. and leaves those who are proud
and self-centered and only concerned to do that which pleases themselves. And so the result is they err
from the commandments of God. They turn away from that which
is right. And not only example of Cain,
and we won't go through, there's a whole list of them, but we
can think of Pharaoh, the king who was there when the Israelites
were in Egypt. and how his heart was hardened. He wouldn't allow the Israelites
to come out of Egypt. And he rebuked those who came
before him, as Joseph did. We think how sad these things
were. And yet, we realize that he was
not one of those whom God had called And then we think of,
perhaps lastly, we can think of Haman. You remember Haman
lived in the days of Esther and how he was bent on people bowing
down to him. He was so proud. And of course,
he was totally against Mordecai because Mordecai did not stand
up and did not bow down to Haman. And we know, of course, that
Haman was very angry when he saw that and determines to take
the life of Mordecai. But God very wonderfully appeared. It's a lovely little account
when we see that the king in those days, the king could not
sleep. The Lord has the hearts and lives
of us all in his hands. The king could not sleep and
therefore he called for the records of those things which had occurred,
the chronicles. and they were brought and in
those chronicles it was told that Mordecai had been the person
who had warned the king that there was a plot to slay him
and he wanted to know what honour was done to him and they said
there was no honour so he then decided to honour him and he
wanted to know who was there available to speak to and Haman
was the person But, of course, Haman then saw Mordecai and was
more angry than ever. And his intention was to hang
that poor man, Mordecai. But we see how it was overthrown. All his plans were overthrown. He was proud, but he was cursed. And he erred from keeping the
commandments of God. So we see how The Lord is sovereign
in his ways. And then we go on to verse 22,
remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept thy testimonies. We may think, well, did the psalmist
have reproach and contempt? Well, quite clearly he did. And the truth is that In measure,
all the Church of God have reproach and contempt. And if we indeed
are a true believer, and if we demonstrate in our lives we are
a true follower of the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and that we hear those gracious words of the Saviour who said
to his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. We don't like
to deny ourselves, do we? We like to do what we want to
do, what is pleasing to us. But we don't want to have to
bear reproach and contempt. So therefore we try and avoid
things which might bring that upon us. And yet we should realise
that we have a great and glorious and wonderful example in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And as we follow the words of
the Bible which speak to us about Him and what He bore, we have
a very full statement in the Hebrews in chapter 13 and verse
12 to 14. This is what it reads. Wherefore
Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered without the gate. He was a castaway, cast out,
rejected. And so we read, let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. That means united with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if we are a true follower
of the Saviour, we should expect reproach and expect contempt,
like the Blessed Lord did. And it carries on in that same
chapter in Hebrews and gives a wonderful reason. For here
have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. And in reality,
that puts things in a right perspective. It demonstrates to us that the
poor things of time will fade away. They will not be here forever. And in this world, we do not
have a continuing city. But what a blessing it is if
God has given us his grace, his favor, to seek one to come. What a blessing that is. And
it's good if you and I are able to examine ourselves to see where
we stand with regard to that. Remove from me reproach and contempt,
said the psalmist, for I have kept thy testimonies. Well, what
a blessing it is if God enables us to keep his testimonies. to keep his commands to follow
his good and gracious example because our life on this earth
is very short and eternity has no time it is forever well what
a mercy it is then if we're given grace to keep his testimonies
and then really the psalmist goes on verse 23 he says prince
is also did sit and speak against me, but thy servant did meditate
in thy statutes. And who are they? Well, you know,
in the Revelation we have a very beautiful statement, and it's
this. These are they which follow the
Lamb, the Lord Jesus, whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men. What a great and wonderful blessing
it is if you and I are those who are redeemed. That means
that the Lord Jesus Christ, a friend of sinners, has died to take
away our sins so that when we come down to pass out of time
into eternity, It will be well with our soul. We don't have
a continuing city here. We seek one to come. These are
they which follow the Lamb with us wherever he goes. That's a
good statement, isn't it? Something to ponder, isn't it?
Ponder the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ponder His example, and
may we each be given grace and desire to truly take up our cross
and to follow Him. Swami says princes also did sit
and speak against me. Yes, many people may speak against
us, but he says, thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. Again, my friends, we have the
word of God to meditate upon. There's no better occupation
than meditating in the word of God. It may be difficult, the
devil's at our elbow, not wanting us to meditate in the great words
of scripture. But what a blessing it is if
the Lord gives us that living desire to do that which is right
and God-honouring, and to indeed meditate in his statutes. In
the 14th chapter of John, which is, I'm sure you know a beautiful
chapter, the Lord Jesus spoke when he was in the upper room
to his disciples. And towards the end of that chapter,
the Lord says, he that hath my commandments and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me. The obvious is true. If we do
not keep his commandments, we do not love him. And he that
loveth me shall be loved of my Father. What a wonderful blessing
that is, isn't it? What a wonderful favour to think
of that. Yes, as we meditate upon the
great and glorious statutes of the Word of God, and will manifest
myself to him. To think the Lord Jesus shows
himself to us as our Saviour. Hasn't left us. He hasn't passed
us by. He's come to us where we are. Meditate in his word. What a blessing that is. Judas,
not Iscariot, said, Lord, how is it that thou would manifest
thyself unto us and not unto the world? It's a fair question. What's the answer? Jesus answered
and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words, the
statutes of God. And my father will love him.
And we will come unto him and make our abode with him. And then the Lord tells us in
the Gospel of Matthew, with regard to following the Saviour. He
says, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. If you and I
meditate on the great and glorious truths of God and realise the
wonder of it, we might think how hard it will be, how difficult
it will be. He tells us to be united to Christ
easy because he is a great and glorious Savior and he understands
you and me better than we understand ourselves he knows exactly what
we need and then he says and my burden is light we might think
oh if I profess the name of the Savior It'll be a very difficult
and hard life. Remember the Word of God. And my burden is light. And then,
as we think about meditating in the Word of God, the 24th
verse tells us, Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors. The Word of God. What is the
Word of God? Well, we're told in the Ephesians,
the sword of the Spirit. What is it? That is the Word
of God, which is the Word of God. And my friends, the sword
of the Spirit is a sharp sword, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder. It's a great blessing
to therefore have the Word of God and to bless Him for it. Thy testament is also of my delight. and my counsellors. And again,
we read in the Psalms, in the fourth Psalm, thou hast put gladness
in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their
wine increased. It means spiritual blessings
are so much more important and produce so much more happiness
and gladness in our heart. then all the blessings and the
things of this world can bring. Thy testament is also on my delight. And then finally we read that
16th Psalm because of some beautiful words and we'll just read them
in conclusion. The 7th and 9th verses. I will
bless the Lord who has given me counsel, my reins, that means
our hearts, My heart's also instruct me in the night seasons. I have
set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore,
my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall
rest in hope. Thy testimony is also on my delight. and my counsellors. Well may
we ponder these words and be encouraged by them to realise
that we have a God who is always there, who does not change. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Well may God be
gracious and bless his word and the meditation to our soul's