Well, this evening, we'll just
keep our meditation to the first four verses in this section.
Well, half of it, in fact, from verses nine to 12. So just reading
those four verses again. Wherewith should a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according
to thy word. With thy whole heart have I sought
thee. O let me not wander from thy
commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord,
teach me thy statutes. So this section starts with a
question. And the question is, wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way? And quite clearly, the psalmist
is not giving any direction as to what man it might be because
all men, all mankind, really come into that situation because
we know, we're told, all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. We are conceived in sin and shapen
in iniquity. So the reality is that all need
to be cleansed. Where with all shall a young
man cleanse his way? And then we have the answer given
to us. And the answer is very simple,
by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Now we shall notice
as we go through this psalm that this kind of statement is very
often uttered, that we are to take heed thereto according to
thy word. And of course how comprehensive
and glorious is the word of God. Because if we look at this and
we think, well, how should a young man cleanse his way? And really
that means being freed from that which has caused the cleansing
to be required. And that, of course, is sin.
And as I've said, all of sin. All have sinned. And of course,
young people are young in the way and they fall into temptations,
perhaps more, not necessarily, but perhaps more than those who
are older and more experienced in the way. But nonetheless,
they all need cleansing. We all need cleansing. And therefore
we are directed to the Word of God. And it's wonderful, isn't
it, to realize the Word of God directs us as to how we shall
be cleansed. Indeed, how we can be cleansed. And there's only one way. Only
one way that we can be cleansed from all our sin. And that's
through the precious blood, the sin-atoning blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And how wonderfully that is set
before us in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Yes,
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses from all sin, and
it will be a wonderful privilege and favour if God brings us to
that position where we realise we need cleansing, realise we
must be cleansed, because no uncleansed person can enter into
the holy place in glory. But realise there is a way, and
that way is set before us. That cleansing doesn't rely upon
ourselves. Not because what we can do, or
what we can say, or how we can change ourselves, but to think
that we have a great and glorious Saviour, a great and glorious
Redeemer, who has given His life so that you and I might receive
the forgiveness of all our sins. Manus not, how black they are,
how vile they are. You see, Jesus came in to save
unto the uttermost. It's a lovely word, isn't it?
An uttermost. It's very inclusive. It doesn't
matter how bad, how terrible they are. The Lord Jesus came
to save such. And we have some wonderful examples,
don't we? We have the example of Manasseh. And we know how bad he was, how
wicked he was. And yet, you see, we're told
that when he turned to the Lord, when he confessed his sin to
God, the Lord had mercy upon him. And my friend, that's a
glorious truth for us today, to know that there is mercy through
the wonderful work of our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. So wherewithal shall a young
man cleanse his way? Yes, everyone need cleansing. How is it to be done? Set before
us in the word of God, which directs us to none other than
the finished work of the saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
he comes and says, with my whole heart have I sought thee. It's a great blessing, isn't
it? To think that he was able to make a statement like that. With his whole heart have I sought
thee. And it's not a divided heart,
it's not a heart that goes one way and then changes. But as
the Lord comes and gives us that wonderful blessing of a new heart,
A new heart desires to be holy. A new heart desires to be forgiven. A new heart looks forward to
that glorious time in glory. And what a blessing it is to
have this true desire. With my whole heart have I sought
thee. You see, the psalmist was able
to tell us that he had sought this with his whole heart. Well, it's a great blessing if
you and I are given that grace. And it is God's grace to do that
because we don't do it of ourselves. We are really unwilling to really
confess that we're that black sinner. But it's good when God
gives us a right understanding. And therefore, we have to seek
unto our God with the whole heart, telling him all about our problems,
all about our difficulties, believing he is a God that does hear and
a God who does forgive. And then, with some perhaps understanding
of that part of the first verse, wherewithal should a young man
cleanse his way, he then comes and says, oh, let me not wander,
from nigh commandments. Let us not turn away from the
truth of God. Let the devil not have the victory,
but may we know the power of God, the power of God in our
soul, that power which, as the Apostle Peter said so clearly,
kept by the power of God through grace unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last time. And so what a mercy it is if
we really desire that great favour, to not wander from God's ways,
that's set before us very clearly. And yet you see how easily we
can be tempted by the devil, how powerful he is. He knows
our weaknesses. He knows what to concentrate
on. what a mercy it is that we have a God who forgives. Amen. The psalmist says, Thy Word. Again, we mention it in that
ninth verse, Thy Word, the truth of God, Thy Word have I hid in
my heart. It's a wonderful thing, isn't
it? To hide God's will in our heart. You might say, what does
that mean? Well, I believe it really means this. We're able
to read the Word of God and it's a blessing when we're able to
commit some part of it to our memory. So there it is, tucked
away in our heart. We're able to remember And therefore,
when times of temptation come, and times when the devil tries
to get the victory, we can bring to our mind those things which
are hidden in our heart. Sometimes we may have almost
forgotten they're there. But in our time of need, the
Holy Spirit revives us, revives. enables us to think and to meditate
upon the great truth of God and to be comforted and to be strengthened
and to realize we do have one who understands us because he,
the great glorious Saviour, was tempted in all points like as
we are yet without sin. And may it be those things which
we head in our heart be an unctuous light to all that's right and
a bar to all that's wrong. Him writer understood didn't
he? And so here we have this statement that I might not sin
against thee. It's good isn't it to have a
desire to not sin against God. Yes, it's not a question of sinning
and speaking wrongfully against people. It's not sinning against
God. What a mercy, therefore, if we
are in that position. You know, the psalmist in this
119th Psalm made a very amazing statement as he comes right to
the very end, the very last verse. And let's read what it says in
176 verse. This is what it says. I have
gone astray like a lost sheep. Surely we would think the psalmist,
a man of God, wouldn't go astray. But we see left to ourselves,
we will go astray. The psalmist knew it. He says,
I have gone astray. He couldn't claim he hadn't.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep. But he's not content with
staying there. Seek thy servant. Seek thy servant. Oh, it's a good prayer, isn't
it? Desiring that God will seek us. Seek us out and find us and
lead us in that right way and leave us not, neither forsake
us. For I do not forget thy commandments. Well, here it says in that 10th
verse, oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. And in
this 11th verse, that I might not sin against thee. You see, all statements asking
the Lord to be with us and to keep us. And then he says, blessed
art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes blessed art thou yes
and we can think of the the words in the lord's prayer lead me
not into temptation but deliver me from evil for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever it's good to realize
that isn't it all power belongeth unto god and it's good to come
and remember that wonderful prayer that the Lord taught his disciples
has a position in our lives today and that we might remember that
and pray that it might be so and be able to come and say,
blessed art thou O Lord. So true it is, God is blessed,
blessed forevermore and I hope you and I Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach
me thy statutes. It's good, isn't it? You see,
if God teaches us, it's indelibly written in our heart. We're not
learning it then just as a schoolboy learns his task. We learn it
then as God imputes it to us. It's written in our heart. And
we can then bless God for it. Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach
me thy statutes. Well, there's plenty in those
few verses to go home and to think about and to meditate upon. It's just an introduction, really,
to these great statements. Well, may God bless you.