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
and Psalm 71 and we'll read verse 16. Psalm 71 and reading verse
16. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only. This is a very beautiful psalm
that we have been able to read together and it directs us really
to the blessing and favour of Almighty God. And the psalmist,
under the influence of the Holy Spirit, was able to write these
great and glorious truths. We don't intend to go through
this psalm in detail, but nonetheless there are so many points of great
encouragement and direction to us. I thought I would just make
a few comments going through from verse 1 as the Psalmist
starts and tells us, in thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Well,
he could say that. Can you and I say that tonight?
Can you and I say, by God's grace, O Lord, I put my trust in thee. That the Lord will be our helper.
The Lord will be the one who gives us his grace and mercy.
The one who directs us and does not leave us. And he goes on
and says, and let me never be put to confusion. No true believer
is put to confusion if they follow the path of Almighty God and
follow his direction. My friends, if we don't, we can
very easily be put to confusion. But what a mercy it is to be
numbered amongst those who do trust in the Lord. deliver me
in thy righteousness and cause me to escape, incline thine ear
unto me and save me. He didn't want to just mouth
words or write words. He wanted to write and speak
those things that the Lord would incline his ear unto. I wonder
how many times we prayed and prayed mere words and not really
prayed from our heart and really desired that Almighty God, none
less, would incline his ear unto us and in doing so save our souls. You young people, how do you
stand before a holy God? Do you desire as you pray that
he will hear you and that he will save your soul. That's the great and great and
necessary and important consideration for each one of us to know that
we are saved with that great salvation. Be thou my strong
habitation whereunto I may continually resort. To think that we have
a God who is always available, a God who never sleeps, God is
always alert. A God who knows everything about
us and therefore to think that God is our strong habitation. And again, the gracious encouragement
where unto I may continually resort. It's very personal, isn't
it? And we can resort in whatever type of situation we find ourselves
in. God is always there. And so this
word is very true, whereunto I may continually resort. Yes, let us never weary in coming
to our God. Thou hast given commandment to
save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. Oh, what a blessing
to know that, that God has given a commandment to save our souls. And he is our rock. He is our
fortress. We shan't be moved if we're founded
upon the rock Christ Jesus. We have that wonderful illustration,
don't we, in Matthew and also in Luke, where there is that
account of the parable of the man who built his house upon
a rock and the man who built his house upon a sand. The one
who built it upon a rock. When the storms came and the
floods, It stood firm. And how true that is. If you
and I founded upon Christ, the rock of ages, my friends, he
will never move. It's a firm foundation. Bless God for that. Deliver me,
oh my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of
the unrighteous and cruel man. There are wicked people, there
are cruel people who are set to destroy us. under the influence
of Satan. But you see, the psalmist here
had this great concern. Deliver me, oh my God. Again,
let us not lose sight of the personal application. Deliver
me. Real religion, as I often say,
is personal between your soul and God and my soul and God.
And we need the Lord to come and to deal with us in a personal
way, to be delivered. out of the hands of the wicked,
out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. And then he comes
and says, for thou art my hope, O Lord God. Well, can you echo
that? Can you say tonight, by the grace
of God, the Lord is my hope. My hope is fixed on nothing less
and Jesus' blood and righteousness. And he goes on to say, Thou art
my trust from my youth. Well, we've got a good number
of young people here tonight. We could categorise them as youths. Can you agree with what the psalmist
has said here and be able to confirm Thou art my trust from
my youth. You look back and find in your
lives the evidence that by the grace of God you trusted in the
Lord. And the Lord hasn't disappointed
you. He may not have answered your prayers yet. The Word of
God tells us your time is always, but my time is not yet. But my
friends, what a blessing it is to have the evidence that we
have trusted in the Lord from our youth. It's a wonderful favour. It's a great blessing. By thee
have I been holding up from the womb, right from the time when
you and I were born. The Lord has taken care of us. He's watched over us. When we
had no ability to look after ourself, to be able to come and
say, I also have been holden up from the womb, thou art he
that took me out of my mother's bowels. And then he says, my
praise shall be continually of thee. That's a good phrase, isn't
it? And it's instruction for us today. Praise waiteth in Zion for thee,
O Lord, and unto thee shall a vow Be performed, the psalmist says
in another place. And what a good thing it is if
we desire to praise God and not only occasionally. What is he
saying here? My praise shall be continually
of thee. That's not just to the young,
that's to all of us. We all have reason to praise
God. We all have reason to praise
God continually. Well, I wonder how often you
praise God today? How often you praise God in your
life? The psalmist makes this grand and glorious statement.
My praise shall be continually of thee. I am as a wonder unto
many, but thou art my strong refuge. God is a refuge and strength. All my friends, bless God for
that. A very present help in time of trouble. Never forget,
we have a God who is always there. A God that we can always come
to. A God that we can always speak
to in prayer. We can come and we can tell this
God everything because he understands. He's the only one that does.
may say they understand, but they probably don't really. But
we have a God who does understand. What a mercy. What a blessing
then to come to such a God. Thou art my strong refuge. Let
my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
That means, doesn't it, that you and I are to declare our
praise for God. It's not just something which
you and I may be thankful for in a silent way. There's nothing
wrong with that. But here the psalmist goes further
and he tells us, my mouth, let my mouth be filled with thy praise
and with thy honour all the day. It's a blessing if we understand
something of the greatness of God, the greatness of our salvation,
the wonder of his mercy toward us. And there surely, there is
great reason for us to be filled with thy praise and with thy
honour. Again he comes and says, all
the day, not just a few moments. all the day. We compare ourselves,
surely, with the blessed Word of God, how far short we come. But are we concerned about it
or are we worried about it? Or do we just go on our way and
we forget everything the preacher said and ignore it, carry on
in our own way? Well, my friends, this is the
Word of God. It's not my words, it's God's
Word. And important it is that you and I take notice of it and
realize the relevance of it. And then he comes, he's spoken
about the youth, hasn't he? And he comes down and says, cast
me not off in the time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength
faileth. He looks forward to a time when
he will be old and he'll be weak. And he prays that God won't leave
him or forsake him. He prays the Lord God will be
with him. cast me not off in the time of
old age, forsake me not when thy strength failest. It's good
to have these statements, isn't it? To encourage us to remember
such words as this and to pray to our God that they may be fulfilled. in our life, for mine enemies
speak against me, and they wait for my soul, take counsel together,
saying, God hath forsaken him, persecute and take him, but there
is none to deliver him." Well, we may fear, we may have the
evidence that the old devil is very at work. He never sleeps
either. And he keeps going and keeps
trying to tempt us and make us turn away from the things of
God to deceive us. Don't forget the great snare
of the devil, he endeavours to deceive us. He deceived Adam
and Eve. We have that great example, the
beginning The Word of God in the third chapter of Genesis.
There he deceived Adam and Eve. And my friends, he hasn't changed
his technique. He still uses it to deceive the
Church of God. But what a blessing it is if
we're able to come and stand and be firm, realizing our faith
is not in ourselves, it is what God has given us. And so he comes
and cries out, oh God, be not far from me. Oh my God, make
haste for my help. Are we relying upon God as our
helper? Our help cometh from the Lord,
we read in Psalm 121. And what a blessing it is to
know that. Our help cometh from the Lord. If you and I have proved it,
we can bless God for it. And we can rest in this great
and glorious truth. Oh God, be not far from me. Oh
my God, make haste for my help. Let them be confounded and consumed
that are adversaries to my soul. And there are many adversaries,
believe you me, to our soul. Many adversaries. But the prayer
is that they may be confounded and consume that are adversaries
to my soul. Let them be covered with reproach
and dishonor that seek my hurt." And then he says, but I will
hope continually. It's a good thing to have a good
hope and not hope in ourselves. but a hope in our God. That's
what the psalmist had, a hope in his God. And that's why he
was able to say, but I will hope continually and will yet praise
thee more and more. We surely see the thrust of this
psalm is praise to God. It's not just his psalm, my friends,
it's through the word of God, praise to God. You know, it's
very easy, isn't it? To look at ourselves and look
down. The hymn writer says, pour not on thyself too long, lest
it sink thee lower. Look to Jesus, firm and strong,
glory, range with power. Well, my friends, that's the
secret. May we not be looking down. It's very easy to look
down He's so downcast, but let us look up to the great and glorious
finished work of the Saviour. And may we rejoice and praise
Him for that and recognize, I will hope continually and will yet
praise Thee more and more. And then verse 15, my mouth. Again, we come to this speaking,
my mouth. Let's not turn our back upon
it. Let's not think it's not relevant
to me. It's very clear. My mouth, says the psalmist,
it's a testimony and is an example for us. Shall show forth thy
righteousness and thy salvation all the day. For I know not the
numbers thereof. And so we come down to verse
16. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of
thine only. And then let me just run on a
bit. Oh God, thou hast taught me from my youth. I wonder whether
you can say that tonight, you young people. Can you say that
God has taught you? God has taught you. If I was
to say to you tonight, well, come up here and tell the people
what God's taught you, would you be able to say anything?
Well, bless God if you can, and I hope you can. And if you can't,
is it a concern? Is it a desire that you truly
may be able to say something, a testimony of what God has done
for you? Oh God, that has taught me from
my youth And hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works." Again, you
see, it was a clear testimony of the psalmist declaring, speaking
again, with the mouth declaring. He didn't keep it all in. He
wasn't one of those who wrongly say, well, I'm not a person that
can speak very much. That's dishonoring to almighty
God. Dishonoring. We are to declare
his goodness, declare his work, declare his love and mercy to
such unworthy sinners. And therefore, to be able to
confirm our desire, like the psalmist, hitherto have I declared
thy wondrous works. And then he says, now also, when
I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I have showed
thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that
is to come. That's a lesson for us, isn't
it? Who are older, to give a good testimony to the young people,
not to not say anything and make some excuse. There's no excuses
before God. He says this, O God, forsake
me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation
and thy power to everyone that is to come. What a glorious example
and testimony the psalmist sets before us. Thy righteousness also, O God,
is very high. who has done great things, O
God, who is like unto thee? Well, it's good, isn't it, to
have a good view and a great view and a high view of Almighty
God and to be able to come and declare such a truth. O God, who is very high, who
has done great things, O God, who is like unto thee? There's
no God, there's no one so great as our God. And we have so many
evidences of God's great work in the Word of God, great work
through history in the accounts of godly men, and what a blessing
if you and I have the testimony of great things which God has
done in our little lives, utterly unworthy as we are. And then
he comes and says, which has showed me great and sore troubles. Well, the Lord does bring us
sometimes down. He brings us low so that he may
raise us up. Yes, you see, then we appreciate
the mercy and the blessing and the favor of God. Thou who which
has showed me great and sore troubles shall quicken me again. That means make me spiritually
alive again. and shall bring me up again from
the depths of the earth. God is merciful. God is gracious. He doesn't learn us more than
we are able to bear, but sometimes he does load us well to keep
us down, to keep us praying, to keep us following in the way
set before us in his work. Thou shalt increase my greatness
and comfort me on every side. I will also praise Thee with
a psaltery, even Thy truth, O my God. Here we have it again, you
see. He desires. I will also praise Thee with
a psaltery, even Thy truth, O my God. Unto Thee will I sing with
a harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel. You see, desiring to testify
of what the Lord has done. My lips, shall greatly rejoice. Again, speaking, we speak with
our lips. It's not silence. My lips shall
greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee and my soul which thou hast
redeemed. My friends, there's no greater
blessing than to know that we are redeemed because how are
we redeemed were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. To think that Almighty God shed
his precious blood so that you and I might be redeemed, freed
from all our sin, and then at last taken to glory. And then finally, my tongue also
shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long. for they are
confounded, for they are brought unto shame that seek my help."
Well, that is, I believe, a wonderful testimony of the psalmist from
his own experience and under the blessed influence of the
Holy Spirit to write such things for you and me today. You see,
the Word of God never becomes out of date. It never becomes
old-fashioned. We should never think, well,
that was written for years ago. It's written for years ago, and
it's written for us today, and it's written for those that will
come afterwards. The word of God never becomes
outdated. And therefore, may we thank God
for it and praise him for it, and come to him recognizing what
a merciful God we have in giving us the Bible to read. Just try
and think, if you'd never had the Bible, If you've never had
the Bible, you've never been told about the things of God,
and there's probably billions of people in the world today
that have never had a Bible, have never heard the word of
God, have never heard about sin and salvation. What a blessing,
what a privilege you and I have in this day and age in which
we live. So may we indeed truly take these
words to heart and bless God for them, may they be worked
out in our lives today, wherever we may be, whatever the scene
may be, let us never be ashamed of the gospel of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. So then, coming back to this
word, and again, here is the secret, really. This is what
the psalmist says, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. He wasn't going because he was
a very clever man, He wasn't going because he could speak
well to people. He was to go and he encouraged
people to go because it's the command of God. And so he says,
I will go. I will go. And there's a secret here in
the strength of the Lord God. You see, he was dependent upon
God to help him. God to help him. The apostle
Paul, As we know, I hope you know, was a man of God and wonderfully
blessed with a missionary spirit, desiring that to reach out to
people whenever he had the opportunity. You remember when he was in Athens,
he was there by himself. And what did he do? He got out
where he was and went into the marketplace, the busy place.
to speak about the things of God. He even stood on a hill
there, which gave him a good platform to preach the gospel. His great concern was that people
might hear the word of God. What a blessing it is for us
today, if you and I have the like concerns, and to go in the
strength of the Lord God, the Apostle Paul went in his strength. He didn't live an easy life,
did he? But he tells us when he wrote to the Philippian church
in the fourth chapter of verse 13, he says this, I can do all
things through Christ that strengtheneth me. My friends, that was the
Apostle Paul's testimony, and it is really the true testimony
of the church of God. To recognize this great truth,
I can, Yes, he wasn't boasting of his own ability. He said,
I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. And when
we think the Lord Jesus Christ is the creator of all things,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, nothing is impossible
with our God. What a blessing it is if you
and I are blessed with this faith to come and to pray to Almighty
God. and to commend ourselves to thee.
But he indeed will fulfill this great and glorious truth. I will
go in the strength of the Lord God, not go in your strength. You see, sometimes we might think,
well, I've got to work out what I'm going to do now. I'm going
to think about this very carefully. I don't want to land myself in
any trouble. Well, the word of God tells us it shall be given
us in the hour what we should speak. Confidence in God. God who is our helper. God who will not leave us nor
forsake us. What a need there is in the day
and age in which we live to be bold for the things of God. And so he comes and says here,
this great truth, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. Well, we know that we don't know
who the psalmist is. We think it's David, but it's
not actually said in Psalm 71. But we know that David went in
the strength of the Lord God on so many occasions. Think of
that wonderful day when he stood before Goliath or when he came
before the king just prior to that. And he testified before
the king. of how God had delivered him
out of the lion and out of the bear. And he said this, and he
will deliver me out of this Goliath. He will deliver me. He wasn't
relying on himself. He was relying upon his God.
And as you know, the Lord graciously and gloriously blessed him with
that single stone which he slang and it hit Goliath in the forehead
of the temple and he fell down dead or at least fell down on
the ground so that David could go and cut off his head. What
a victory that was. He could do all things through
Christ that strengthened him. He was able therefore to testify
like this verse says, I will go in the strength of the Lord
God. They weren't vain words. He proved
them. He testified of them. And they are recorded for you
and me today. We probably won't have to go
and fight Goliath. But there will be things, no
doubt, of which we shall fear and will seem almost impossible. Naturally speaking, there was
a giant. There was David. We know he was
quite a big man, but he wasn't a giant. And yet, you see, he
went in confidence. in his God. And we're told he
didn't shitty shally, he ran towards Goliath. Because he had a confidence in
his God. Well my friends, you and I, in
the day and age in which we live, have confidence in our God. We shouldn't fear really, and
we have that wonderful occasion of Esther, I quoted it in prayer,
Esther, of course, was just a normal woman. And she was told to go
in to the king and tell him the problem. And she feared. But Mordecai told her that she'd
come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And so that was true in her case. And what did she do? She said,
I will go. I will go, which is not according
to the law. And if I perish, I perish. She was willing to cast all her
care upon God, knowing that he was able to deliver her. And of course, when it came to
the situation, the king held out the golden scepter and she
was accepted. And my friend, you and I perhaps
will be surprised how the Lord appears, appears that which we
may fear, fear greatly perhaps. And yet you see if the Lord appears,
it may just be like that. All our fear is put to one side,
and there held out the golden scepter. What a mercy, what a
blessing. And so I will go in the strength
of the Lord God. Well, my friends, we have many
occasions in the Word of God where they went in the strength
of the Lord God. You may remember that wonderful
occasion with Jehoshaphat. There was all the enemy against
him and he prayed to God and he said, neither know we what
to do, but our hope is in thee. God didn't fail him. God raised
up a prophet who was told what would happen and the amazing
truth was they didn't need to even fight in the battle. God appeared. Now my friends
our God reigns today in exactly the same way and we should realise
that we have a God who is able to do far more exceeding abundantly
than we can ask or even think. We're often tempted to limit
God. We're often tempted to think,
perhaps, that we're dealing with a little God. Tempted to think
that God will never take notice of us. He'll never hear our prayers. Well, my friends, don't forget
He is able. God is able. And what a blessing
it is at those times when he truly is willing to help us and
strengthen us. And so he says here, I will go. I will go. Perhaps we need a word like that
in our life. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. He tells us then what he will
do. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only. Well, it's a great blessing,
my friends, to know the righteousness of Christ. I sometimes think,
and it's a wonderful thought really, think the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world, and he came into this world to
take upon himself Our sin, our sin, every sin imputed to the
Saviour, put upon Him. There we were guilty, helpless,
helpless. And yet the Lord came and took
our sin to Himself. Oh, it's an amazing truth, isn't
it? to think and try and get a perspective of it. Almighty
God, the creator of the universe, looked down upon unworthy you
and me, sinners of the earth, and took our sin on himself. And he paid the price. The price that was on our head.
The ransom price to deliver us from the wrath to come. What
a mercy. And what was that price? It was
nothing less than his death. Again, it's hard for us to really
comprehend the magnitude of that sacrifice. As very God, the second
person in the Trinity, condescended to do his father's will in order
that his church might be saved and delivered from their sin
and therefore be found at last in glory with him forever and
ever. And he was willing to bear the
punishment instead. What a saviour. We have the wonderful view, don't
we, of the saviour in Gethsemane, there praying to his father.
Being in agony, he sweat as it were great drops of blood fall
into the ground and his prayer was, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. Now what a blessing it is if
you and I are willing to do God's will, God's will. God's will was and a wonderful
occasion it was that the Lord Jesus should suffer and that
he should die. And in so doing, he would finish
the work that his father gave him to do. He did not fail. He
was willing. Oh, what a saviour. What a cost
it was. Sometimes it's good just to come
and ponder these things, and as I often say, there's no more
blessed place than to go to Calvary, and by faith, to view the Savior
suffering for us, and taking upon Him all our sin, He bore
the punishment instead. And then, what did He do? He gave us. He gave us His righteousness. That glorious robe. What a wonderful
exchange. What an amazing exchange. How
unworthy to receive such an exchange as that. But the grace of God
was exceeding great. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote
to the Philippians, that lovely third chapter, and he says this in verse 9, or perhaps I'll just
read verse 8. Yea, doubtless and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And to
count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness. Our own righteousness is as but
filthy rags. Our best are but as filthy rags. Be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, because we cannot keep
the law. But that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. What a blessing to receive this. And then he goes on to say that
I may know him. Oh, may that always be our prayer. You young people, you may want
many things. Don't forget, one thing is needful. And here the Apostle Paul sets
before us this great and glorious truth, that I may know him and
the power of his resurrection. And the power of his resurrection
is very beautifully and simply this, it's the power of God which
brings life into our dead soul. We're born in sin, shaped in
iniquities, we're born dead. What a blessing to know the life
of God and the light of God shining in our hearts through our great
and glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. That I may know
him and the power of his resurrection. Well, bless God, if you know
something of the power of God in your soul, shining the glorious
light of the gospel. One thing I know, whereas I was
blind, now I see. You may not see everything clearly,
but bless God if you have some sight, some spiritual sight,
because it's the work of the Spirit of God that I may know
Him. and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings people may turn away from that
and say oh I couldn't face that well you know you and I can come
to a wrong conclusion we can very easily think it's going
to be something terribly physical well it might be but it might
also be in our natural thinking yes fellowship with his sufferings
Lord Jesus physically suffered, but also he mentally suffered
greatly. And the fellowship of his sufferings,
and there's no greater blessing than to be found unity with the
Savior in his sufferings. And he goes on, being made conformable
unto his death, if by any means, It's a great statement, isn't
it? If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead. You look beyond the things of
this life. And what a blessing, my friends,
if you and I can look beyond the things of this life. Our
life's only a short time anyway. You who are young, it's only
a short time. For us who are older, it's a
much shorter time. But in any event, it's very short. in comparison
with eternity. And you and I are on that road.
There's no turning back. We can't escape. We're in an
eternal state. My friend, you and I must spend
either heaven in our life in heaven eternally or in hell eternally. Now what a blessing it is if
you and I are amongst those who understand something of the truths
that we've just gone through in this chapter, and also in
this 16th verse. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will. There's two I wills here,
aren't there? Two I wills. I will go in the
strength of the Lord God, and I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only. He sets the crown on the Savior. His righteousness, not ours,
no one else's, but on Christ's. What a perfect life he lived. What a glorious righteousness
he had. And what a great mercy it is
if he imputes to us an utterly unworthy sinner that glorious
robe of his righteousness. And we have to come down to this.
Why was it? Why was it? What do you think?
If you had to answer the question, why was it? In love to our souls. In love to our souls. He loved
us. Oh, my friends, with that unspeakable
love, wonderful and glorious truth it is to know that we have
such a wonderful Saviour, What a wonderful saying. He tells
us in Jeremiah 31 verse 3, The Lord hath appeared of old unto
me, saying, Yea, I, Almighty God, have loved thee, unworthy
sinner, with an everlasting, not something which passes, an
everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Well, it's a great blessing.
If you and I know the drawing power the Saviour. It's a power outside the things
of this poor world. It's an eternal power, which
draws us to the Lord Jesus Christ in what he's done, so that we
are able to come and desire truly to praise our God for all that
he's done, for his great work of salvation. This 15th verse,
it's interesting, it says, my mouth shall show forth thy righteousness
and thy salvation. They're linked together. What
a great blessing it is. What a mercy for you and I if
we know God's salvation. If we do, we should know his
righteousness. What a mercy and what a blessing
therefore. And surely we can then go on our way rejoicing. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only. Amen.