Well we'll continue our meditation
in this 119th psalm and some of you will remember that last
Tuesday we spoke on the first three verses of this 119th psalm. Well this evening we'll consider
verses 4 till 8. See the rest of the verses in
this first section. And let us just read those few
verses again. From verse 4 it reads, Thou hast
commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently, O that my ways were
directed to keep thy statutes. Then shall I not be ashamed when
I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness
of heart when I should have learned thy righteous judgments. I will
keep thy statutes, O forsake me not utterly. We won't retrace our steps on
the first three verses except just to say in a general way
for those of you who weren't here that the 119th Psalm is
split up into 22 sections and each of those sections is titled
by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It starts with the first letter
and goes through to the end And then each section, each verse,
then also starts with the same letter that the section starts
with. And of course, going back and
thinking of the Hebrews, of course, that was a great advantage to
them when they decided and desired to learn. this psalm because
it realized that every verse in like this first section started
with a word it's this first letter A which aids quite considerably
if you're trying to learn something and you know what the first letter
is it's a great help well and again just to remind you that
going back hundreds of years in our nation all the vicars
or those who were actually ordained in the Church of England were
expected to know all the Psalms off by heart. Well, that's quite
an undertaking, wasn't it? But it was that which was normally
expected and obviously normally carried out. Well, let's turn
then to the fourth verse here in this 119th Psalm. And the Word tells us, Thou hast
commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. And we should remember
that this is a command of Almighty God. It's not a command of man. It's a command of Almighty God. And we can just put that in a
bit of perspective by realizing that we have a God, a mighty
God, a powerful God, who has a perfect right to command us,
because He is our Creator. He's the Creator of all things. He's the Preserver. He's the
Redeemer. And He's King and Lord. So we see here, therefore, with
those few considerations, He is, therefore, in a right place
and able to rightly command us to keep precepts and again to
keep them diligently again how easy it is for us not to be diligent
in the things of God we tend to put the things of God on the
same plane or sometimes lower than the things of time the things
of our natural life and yet you see God is so much greater and
so much higher and we should have a far greater respect for
this great God and a far greater desire to follow His commands,
more than we follow the commands of man. We know what our commands
are, don't we? In our nation, we know what the
commands are and we know that it's right for us to keep them.
But do we view it in the same way of our God, that He is far
greater? And when you realize that you
and I have a never-dying soul, how relevant it is that we take
on board such an important statement and realize it comes from Almighty
God. Thou hast commanded us to keep
thy precepts diligently. In the little book of, or the
epistle of James, we're told this. for whosoever shall keep
the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all. And that's a very striking statement
really. Sometimes we might be foolish
to think that when I haven't really committed any very big
sins, I've only just done a very A few small things which are
perhaps not very relevant. Well, this statement then is
very important. It tells us that if we offend
in one point, one point in the commands and laws of God, that
means we're guilty of all. And if we're guilty of all, Quite
clearly, we need God's forgiveness of all. We cannot leave any sins
outside. We need forgiveness of all. That thou has commanded us to
keep thy precepts diligently. And again, it's very easy not
to be diligent in keeping God's commands. We put them off. I think, well, I needn't really
concern myself about that. Lots of other people don't seem
to worry. So why should I? But you and
I stand before a holy God and it doesn't matter what other
people think. What does matter is what God
thinks. And here we have then a very
clear and direct statement to us We're told, Thou hast commanded
us. That's the Lord God, none less. Thou has commanded us to keep
Thy precepts diligently. Well, it'd be a great blessing
if God gives us such a desire to keep His Word and a prayerful
desire so that we may not just pass it by And then he goes on
to tell us, oh, that my ways were directed to keep my statutes. Now, our ways are directed to
keep God's statutes, to keep God's laws in his word. We cannot say, well, I don't
really know what he's referring to, what God's referring to here.
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. The psalmist
desired that in all of his ways he might be clearly directed
to do that which was right and not to do that which is wrong
and be directed by Almighty God. Jeremiah had a very important
statement. in the 10th chapter of Jeremiah,
in the 23rd verse, and it's this, O Lord, he says, I know that
the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh
to direct his steps. So we need God to direct us. O that my ways were directed,
directed By God. If we look to ourselves, if we
try and direct ourselves, we'll end up not doing those things
which are right. Because we'll always adjust the
position and the situation to suit our own lives. And to please
ourselves. And to do that which we think
would be acceptable to God. Whereas we have God's word which
very clearly gives us the right way. Oh, that my ways were directed
to keep thy statutes. Well, it's good, isn't it, if
we could remember what Jeremiah said. He was a man of God, wasn't
he? And he walked and lived in a difficult time. And he tells
us that the way of man is not in himself, is not in ourselves.
We might think it is. We might think we have a perfect
right to decide what we're going to do and when we're going to
do it and how we're going to do it. But what a mercy if we
also have the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom,
the beginning of heavenly wisdom. Look into our hearts and see
whether God has given us that fear. We might say that tender
fear of the Lord, that fear that desires to do that which is right
and turns away from all that is wrong. Well, says the psalmist,
he prays, O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. He realized that keeping of God's
laws and commandments was good and right and proper. It's a
good thing if you and I pray in a similar vein, seeking for
God to indeed come and to direct us And then he goes on to say,
then shall I not be ashamed? We won't be ashamed if we're
doing God's will. Because we will have the answer
of a good conscience. I wonder whether we have that. The answer of a good conscience. So that we can do those things
which are right. We're following God's commands
and therefore we won't be ashamed. But if we walk contrary to God,
if we disobey God, if we follow our own pattern, our own desires,
then surely we have a position where we will be ashamed, that
we didn't listen to God's voice, we didn't obey His commands,
and therefore we are ashamed. Well, what a good thing it is
to come under this statement, then shall I not be ashamed. What a mercy it is if we're like
that. And He gives us the reason when
I shall have respect unto all thy commandments. Again, it's
a very comprehensive statement. He doesn't say some of thy commandments. He says all of thy commandments. And what a mercy it is if you
and I desire truly to keep the Lord's commandments in everything,
not just an odd situation. Then shall I not be ashamed when
I have respect unto all thy commandments. And then he says, I will praise
thee with uprightness of heart when I shall have learned thy
righteous judgments. That really means that when we've
committed our way unto the Lord, we prayed for his help and he'll
help us to walk uprightly that he'll help us to be concerned
about the great truths contained in the Word of God and to follow
that wonderful pattern, then to be able to come and say, I
will praise thee. In the ninth Psalm, we have a
very similar kind of statement. And this is what it says. I will
praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. as we mentioned
last week, not half a heart. In the second verse it says,
and that seek Him with the whole heart. It's not a divided heart. We might say that means we can't
have one foot in the world and one foot in the things of God.
That is a divided heart. And that is not a whole heart. I will praise Thee O Lord of
my whole heart, I will show forth all thy marvellous works. And that of course directs us
to the commandments of God. I will be glad and rejoice in
thee. I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most high. Praise to our God because he
is indeed righteous. I will praise thee with uprightness
of heart when I should have learned thy righteous judgments. What
a mercy when the Lord takes us in hand and teaches us and instructs
us. And we know it is God being gracious
to us. We might not always like it.
We might not always want to agree with it. But it's good when the
Lord makes us conformable unto his image. That's what the Apostle
Paul prayed for. And you can read that in the
third chapter of the Philippians. That's what he wanted to maybe
make conformable to the image of the Savior. Well, what a mercy
it is of you and I have that same desire. I will praise thee
with uprightness of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous
judgments. And then finally he says, I will. Keep thy statutes. Well, we can
only keep the law and the commandments of Almighty God as he gives us
health, as he gives us grace. But again, we must remember,
he will be inquired of by the house of Israel to do these things
for them. He will be inquired of by us
to come to God in prayer and pray that he will give us that
grace and give us that right desire to follow His commands. And not to put them behind us
as though they're irrelevant, but to realize that all God's
laws are good. David says in another place,
how love I thy law or thy commandments. It is my meditation all the day. He loved it. Well, may we love
it. and desire true to follow it.
And then he says finally, oh forsake me not utterly. Another place we read, leave
me not, neither forsake me, oh God of my salvation. It's a good
desire not to be left. It's a good desire not to be
forsaken. It's a good prayer to pray, oh
forsake me not utterly. The Lord knows all about us. He knows we are but flesh. He
knows how easily we fall and stumble. He is a God who is compassionate. What a mercy it is, therefore,
if you and I can come, casting all our care upon Him. for he careth for us. How humbling, how wonderful that
is to think that almighty God, that one who's given us these
words, is one who is compassionate, one who does not deal with us
as our sins deserve, but one who is graciously leading and
directing us through this vain world, and by his grace will
bring us at last to glory. May we all know the wonderful
blessing and favour of that. We'll leave it there