May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word.
Let's turn to Psalm 139 and we'll read verse 10. Verse 139 and
reading verse 10. Even there shall thy hand lead
me, and thy right hand shall hold me. David was a man of God who had
experienced God's direction and God's comfort and God's blessing,
both in a natural way and in a spiritual way. And therefore,
under the blessed influence of the Holy Spirit, he was able
to write this psalm and indeed the one that follows which follows
on the same theme really. And here he commences really
by telling us the greatness of God and it's a wonderful blessing
to have a right understanding in our lives of how great God
is and how merciful and compassionate this God is toward us. And so
he tells us, he says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known
me. Thou knowest mine down-sitting and mine up-rising. Thou understandest
my thought afar off. Well, this immediately directs
us to understand that God knows all about us. He knows our every
thought. And then he says, Thou compassed
my path and my line down, and I was acquainted with all my
ways. God knows every way that we walk
in, every way that is before us, and what a mercy it is to
have a God who knows all that great and wonderful truth. And then he tells us, for there
is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all
together. That means we can't speak a word. God doesn't know. God knows what
words we're going to speak. As we've already said, He knows
our thoughts. He knows our words. Thou hast set me behind and before,
and laid thine hand upon me. Well, on numerous occasions,
As we read the life of David, we know how the Lord put his
hand upon him, to encourage him, to stop him, to direct him, so
many ways. And yet the great blessing was
that he was able to understand that it was the hand of God which
was upon him. Wouldn't it be good for us today,
if we're favoured to understand something of these great blessings,
to know that we have a God who knows all about us, because then
he comes and tells us, such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is
high, I cannot attain unto it. I wonder whether we sometimes
have come again as David did and sat before the Lord and realised
in some measure his greatness. his power, his majesty by comparison
to realize how utterly small and insignificant we are so what
a mercy it is to to have an understanding of that such knowledge is too
wonderful for me it is high I cannot attain unto it and it's good
if we just ponder these things and just realize The greatness
of God is beyond our comprehension, utterly and completely. Our minds
cannot appreciate how wonderful and great God is. Yes, because
he tells us, thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid
thine hand upon me. And then whither shall I go from
thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? And he said, if I ascend into heaven, Thou art
there. If I take my bed in hell, behold,
Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. So having given this
really comprehensive and wonderful introduction to give us a right
understanding of the greatness of God, he comes down and then
says, the Lord says, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy
right hand shall hold me. It really indicates to us that
wherever we are in our natural physical life, wherever we are
in our minds, in our spiritual life, to realise that God is
there. We don't find ourselves in any
condition, physically or spiritually, which is not known to our God. And this really has two aspects,
doesn't it? One, a very blessed and wonderful consideration.
And then on the other hand, a very solemn and searching consideration. I think as you and I go through
life, God knows absolutely everything about us. All our thoughts, all
our plans, All the words which we intend to seek and to do and
say, God knows all about them. And then to realize He knows
all about them and He is in every place. We can't go to any place,
small or long distance, without God knowing where we are going
and what we will do. Well surely this should be an
encouragement to us, should it not? And it will surely encourage
us to realise how great our God is, how wonderful he is, just
so, so much larger than our human minds can absorb. And yet you
see a God who is utterly compassionate and forgiving and merciful. A God who gives so many favours,
so many blessings. Sometimes we may be fearful of
the unknown way. We all have a future, don't we?
We don't know what the future beholds. What it holds for us,
we don't know. But God knows. And it should
be an encouragement to us that wherever the Lord leads us, he
will be there. He will not leave us and he will
not forsake us. He will be our helper. He will
be our strength. He will be our support. even there. It's a very comprehensive
statement. We do have sometimes situations
in our lives, we wonder whether we made mistakes, whether the
Lord will leave us and forsake us. Well, we have many promises
to encourage us to look to the Lord, to trust also in Him, believing
that he will bring it to pass even there even there what a
statement that is isn't it how wonderful it is if God gives
us faith to believe it because even there David goes on to say
shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me again
it's a wonderful truth to understand the goodness of God in taking
us by our hand and leading us on and not leaving us to our
own devices not leaving us to wander on as it may be wildly
through this world but to realise we have a God who does just that
who leads us and takes us by our right hand you may say, why
does he say the right hand? well generally speaking the right
hand is the hand which we use, the hand which we desire to do
things with and to think that God comes and condescends, condescends
to take us by the hand and to lead us on safely. Surely that's
a very wonderful consideration, is it not? But realize that we
have such a God who the psalmist has described in the earlier
verses Such a great God and yet a God who is so kind and leads
us, leads us and takes us by our right hand. So wherever we
are, as he says, even there, wherever it is, we can believe
that this word is true. And so we can believe therefore
that through our little life, whether it's long or short, to
have the understanding that the promises of God are sure and
certain, they are yea and amen. The Lord does not give us promises
which will not be fulfilled. God gives us promises which we
can rely upon. And here's a glorious promise,
is it not? Even there, wherever it may be,
even there shall thy hand, the hand of almighty God, lead me
and thy right hand shall hold me. By the grace of God, David
had a humble, true and great confidence in his God. And so many years after this
was written, we have a God who is the same. I am the Lord, I
change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. So we have this same almighty
God still today. And I think that this is very
true of you and me. In our little life, that our
God says, even there, his hand will lead us and his right hand
shall hold us. Hold us. Perhaps when we come
into slippery places, Slippery places the devil desires to bring
us into slippery places where we fall And fall down he would
desire that we could never arise But thanks be to God If he's
holding us He'd hold us up He'll hold us up. He'll support us
He'll strengthen us And He won't allow us to just fall and lose
our footing, as it were, and have no hope. No, we have a God
who is very gracious and a God who, remember, He deals with
us with compassion and because He has a love to us. What a mercy that is to think
that this Almighty God that we've read about here loves us. with an everlasting love. An
everlasting love. It doesn't change. Our love perhaps
sometimes grows hot and sometimes grows cold. But Jesus' love is
the same. What a wonderful strength and
blessing that should be to us as we journey on through this
life. You know, it's good to have a
God and be a God who causes us to remember he is a great God. I think that verse in the 31st
of Jeremiah is such a beautiful verse. It's so full, isn't it? This is what Jeremiah tells us. And he was a man the same as
we are. He had battles. He had conflicts. He looked to the Lord. He believed
that even there, wherever he went, God would be with him.
And he was. And he was able to tell us, thus
saith the Lord, the people which were left to the sword found
grace in the wilderness, even Israel, when I went to cause
him to rest. You see, they found grace in
the wilderness. Sometimes we find ourselves in
the wilderness, wandering around. maybe a place perhaps, where
we find grace, even there, even there, we may think, well, I'm
not going to be blessed in this place, this won't be of any comfort
to me, this won't be of any strength to me, well, let us realise,
as the psalmist said, He led them about, he instructed them,
or rather the psalmist Moses, and he kept him as the apple
of his eye. So he does, the true church of God. Well, then he
comes on and says, the Lord, nonetheless, the Lord hath appeared
of old unto me saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Well, I wonder tonight whether
we have the wonderful evidence in our little lives that that
love of the Saviour has been attractive to us. And it's drawn
us. Drawn us to Himself. Drawn us
to truly desire as the Apostle Paul designed that fellowship
and union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, even there perhaps,
in the wilderness, even there. And so he says, In that place
the Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn. You wonder tonight whether we
understand what Jeremiah said. We look into our little lives
and see the power of God in touching our hearts and drawing us, giving
us a true living desire after spiritual blessings. It's so
easy is it not to be left to the things of this vain world,
those things which do not profit Those things which detract from
the things of God. Those things which take us away.
But what a mercy, the Lord comes and brings us into a place where
we're able to say, even there shall thy hand lead me. Yes,
even there. You see, we don't know what that
really refers to, do we? But we do know that it's true
that even there the Lord does come, and even there the Lord
will bless, and even there the Lord will instruct and guide
and keep us. And so what a mercy it is to
realize that we have a God like that. You know, the apostle,
when he wrote to the church at Philippi, it's a well-known little
letter, and it's a lovely letter, and as he comes to the third
chapter, he instructs us, and he says, finally, my brethren,
finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Or can we rejoice
in the Lord because of this great truth? Even there shall thy hand
lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. It's a very positive
statement, isn't it? Shall. God doesn't tell lies. God's word is true. Even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Perhaps
we may come indeed like the Apostle Paul was able to write to the
Philippians. He was able to tell us of his
pedigree, how he'd been blessed, how he'd been brought up, how
he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, everything in his favor. But
then he comes and says, but what things were gained to me, those
I counted loss for Christ. You see, even there, we might
say, well, surely that was good that the Apostle Paul was blessed
to be able to recall what God had done for him. Yes, of course
it was. But we see that he desired greater blessings. And the greater
blessings were couched in none other found the fellowship with
the Lord Jesus Christ and he spells it out and it's good to
just recognize his real desire as he confirms, yea doubtless,
there was no doubt about it. David was in the same mind, wasn't
he, really, by the grace of God when he came and said, even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me up. Even there. And so Paul, many
years later, was able to confirm this. Doubtless. It's good, isn't
it, to have a religion which is based upon grace, God's mercy
and grace toward us. So they were able to recognize,
yes, God has done these things for us. And yet, you see, he
comes down and says, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord." It's
a wonderful statement, isn't it? You think of that. We all
learn. You young people, you learn.
You go to school and college and university to learn. Nothing
wrong in that. But the Apostle recognized that
good as that was, an able student that he'd been, when he sat at
Gamaliel's feet, he'd learned so much. But he tells us quite
clearly, yet he doubtless, and no doubt about it, he counted
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. And we may say, well, why did
the apostle really make a statement like that? It's because he realised
that that truth, that blessing, was an eternal blessing. The
things which he learnt naturally would stand him in good stead
perhaps in this life, He would come to that day of his death
when you have to leave all those things. And then the vital thing was
to have this excellent knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Again, he didn't just say of
Christ Jesus, he was able to say, my Lord. Well, is Jesus
Christ tonight our Lord? And can we therefore believe
that even there, wherever it may be, the Lord will be with
us? The Lord will help us. The Lord
will direct us. The Lord will strengthen us.
And so he goes on, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things
and do countenance but done. that I may win Christ. Sometimes
it's good just to analyse the words we have in the Word of
God and to try and compare our little life alongside such wonderful
statements. Well, the Apostle had lost, he
said, all things. He didn't value them. He counted
them, but done, that he might win Christ. the vital desire. May we have it. May we truly
desire it. And he goes on. And be found
in him. Not outside of Christ. It's no
good knowing in our minds and have a natural understanding
of Christ. We need to be found in him. Joined
to Christ. United to Christ. that living
head and be found in him not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law but that which is through the faith of
Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith. Well he's writing here to the
church at Philippi he loved the church at Philippi he knew how
good they'd been to him and his great desire was therefore for
their spiritual well-being Surely that should be our desire for
our spiritual well-being that wherever we may be led and directed
to know that even there, even there shall the hand of God lead
us and his right hand shall hold us even there. We don't want
to go anywhere where God is not with us. We want to know that
God is there, because if God is with us, who then can be against
us? What a mercy that is, and the
Apostle Paul, he just goes a bit deeper with regard to this knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't just a knowledge on
the surface. No, it was a real desire to know
the Saviour intimately, And this is what he says, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection. And that's a great power, my
friends, because Christ rose from the dead. That was the power
of the resurrection. And it's the same power in our
life, when the Holy Spirit makes us spiritually alive, quickens
us, it's the same power the resurrection power from the dead that I may
know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings be made conformable unto his death we might perhaps
naturally cringe about a statement like that and we say oh I don't
think I want to have fellowship with his sufferings well we're
not told we're going to have to hang on the cross Sometimes
you see the Lord brings us into fellowship with his sufferings
when we understand how he walked his life on this earth and how
he suffered. Opposition. Much opposition. He was despised and rejected
of men. Sometimes we may feel despised. We may feel rejected of men. So is the Saviour. What is this? fellowship with his sufferings
even there the Lord brings us into that place fellowship with
his sufferings it's a good place it's a rich place it's a place of eternal favour
it's a proof that we are sons and daughters of the Most High
God And so let us not turn away from statements like this. Let
us not think, well, of course, that was special to the Apostle
Paul. May we truly desire to be found
even there with the Apostle, knowing him and be made conformable
unto his death. Yes, that's a great blessing,
isn't it? These things are very great, aren't they? And it's
there for our encouragement. They're not there to dash us
down. They're there for our encouragement.
And to thank God that he has recorded such things. And as
the Apostle goes on to say, we won't go through it all, he says,
I pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God. in Christ Jesus, pressed toward
the mark, even there. So that's where the Saviour truly
is. Well, are we pressing towards
the mark in our little life? What a mercy if we are. What
a mercy if we have that end in view. As it were, the race that
is set before us and we found looking unto Jesus, The author,
the one who's begun the race for us, and the finisher. There
is a finish. There is a finish. We won't live
forever on this earth. There is an end. And may that
end be found in glory with the Savior. And so we have this statement,
even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me. Yes, what a blessing that is.
Even there. To think that God encouraged
David all those years ago. And may the same words be an
encouragement to us today and in the days ahead to really believe
that even there wherever that may be you and I don't know what
the future holds we don't know where we will be we may think
we know we think well I'm gonna be here I'm staying here and
I'm going there we don't know God knows The great blessing is to know
that where we go, it's God that's leading us and it's God that's
blessing us. And when I say that, it's really
from two perspectives. One is, as we began to say, our
natural life and also our spiritual life. Because sometimes we might
perhaps be confident that we pass this way in our spiritual
life and what we know about that perhaps we don't know very much
that's why Paul the Apostle wanted to know more he knew the virtue he knew the blessing of it and
truly there is no greater blessing on this earth than to be united
to Christ fellowship with the Savior. Oh, it puts things in
a right perspective. And it sets our hearts and affections
upon things above, and not on things on the earth. By nature,
we concentrate on the things of time. If we're not careful,
we fill our mind with the things of time. and what a mercy it
is when we're, as it were, drawn aside. And we're able to understand
what the psalmist said here, David and his life of ups and
downs, wasn't it? Yes, it was not an easy life. We may see the high points in
David's life, and there were some, but also there were many
low points. And he was therefore able to
describe that in these terms and have his confidence in his
God that wherever that was whatever place the Lord took him and led
him to know the Lord was with him that's the great thing isn't
it? we don't want to go on our own
charges and find that the Lord's left us the Lord's forsaken us
and we're wandering on by ourselves but to know that Lord's taken
us by the right hand. It's a wonderful comfort, surely,
to realise that these words are written for the Church of God,
for their instruction and their encouragement. And sometimes,
as David said further on in his psalm, there are times of darkness. There are in our little lives
sometimes times of darkness. And indeed the next verse says,
If I say surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night
shall be. Light about me, yea, he says,
in the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as
the day. The darkness and the light are
both alike to thee. To God they're both the same. You and I may think I'm in a
dark path, I can't see the way, and yet you see it's the way
that God's leading us. He's holding us by the hand,
our right hand, It'll be a good way, it'll be a right way. Sometimes
we expect to have wonderful blessings day by day, but the Lord leads
us so that we appreciate when God does come and visit our soul. He does come and reveal the Lord
Jesus Christ to us as our great and glorious Saviour. Yes, then
it is, that light shines and as we know, it shines beautifully
and gloriously in the face of Jesus Christ. Well, that would
be a good thing, wouldn't it? If the Lord leads us there, even
there shall thy hand lead me. It may be in darkness, but even
if it's there, to know the Lord is leading us and bringing us
through that time into this wonderful place and blessing of darkness. Even there shall thy hand lead
me and thy right hand shall hold me. You see, God doesn't let
go. God doesn't let go. Sometimes,
perhaps, we're tempted to let go. But God doesn't let go. He holds us. He holds us up. He supports us. He encourages
us. And He leads us into all truth,
as it is in Jesus. That's why we're thankful, aren't
we, for the 107th Psalm. As I mentioned this morning,
he led them forth by the right way that they might indeed go
to the city of habitation. Same for us today, isn't it?
To know that the Lord is leading us by the right way that we might
go to a city of habitation. You know in that 107th Psalm,
David he tells us, for he satisfies the longing soul and filleth
the hungry soul with goodness. We've read those few verses in
the Philippians. We see there, do we not, David
longing after the Saviour, hungry after the goodness of God. We
have a testimony. We have an example. And then
here we have a statement in the 107th Psalm along really very,
very similar lines. And you see, we can say, can't
we, even there, even there, the Lord is with the Psalmist, even
there, the Lord is with us. Sometimes we might think the
Lord's forsaken me. The Lord's forgotten about me.
I'm wandering on by myself. Well, don't forget the truth
of this word. As we read, he led them and he
took them by the right hand. Right hand shall hold me. That
is so, you see, we might think the Lord has forsaken us. We
might think he's left his hold. but in actual fact the Lord is
still there. Isn't that very humbling to realise that great
and blessed truth and to know that the Lord is the one who
delivers. We're told in this 107th Psalm,
He brought them out of darkness, the Lord God. You and I can't
bring ourselves out. Sometimes we'd love to, wouldn't
we? But we have to wait on the Lord. wait on the Lord because
then when deliverance comes and it will the praise then goes
to God David says, oh that men would praise the Lord for his
goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men
the Lord comes even there in that place of darkness and delivers
us and brings us into the glorious light of the gospel, what reason
there is then to praise our God, especially as he directs us and
brings us to Calvary, to see there the suffering Saviour by
faith, enduring all incarnate God could bear with strength
enough and none to spare, in order that he would save our
souls, even there. It's a blessed place. It's a
wonderful place to be found at Calvary. And it's a good place
to desire to be found at. Because there you see the glorious
work the Father gave the Savior to do was finished. It was there
we see the fulfilment of the wonderful work given to the Saviour.
And we see the wonderful way that the Saviour bore the punishment
for us, even there. What a mercy then tonight, if
the Holy Spirit brings us to Calvary. It's a mercy. It's an evidence of the sonship
and the daughtership of blessed Lord on our behalf because it's
a place of spiritual favour and a place of spiritual blessing. What a mercy then if we are brought
to that place and to be able to say yes even there the Lord
blessed me. Even there. You know again in
this 107th psalm it's a very beautiful psalm I love reading
it and he says in verse 20 he sent his
word his word not your word and my word He sent His Word and healed them
and delivered them from their destructions. Well, the Lord
has blessed us and we've known the Lord's been even there with
us in that situation. We may not have realised it at
first, we might have thought we were left and forsaken, but
yet to prove, yes, even there. He sent his word. He sent his
word. You and I didn't pick it up.
We didn't suit a word to our case. The Lord did. The Lord
came and sent his word and healed them and delivered them from
their destructions. Are we not a kind and gracious
God who is still the same today as we've already said? He doesn't
change. and we can have our confidence
in this God. Well, this 39th Psalm is very
beautiful, really, and the 140th carries on as David desires.
Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man. Preserve me from the
violent man which, imagine mischief in their hearts continually,
Are they gathered together for war? Yes. We are on the battlefield. We are in a time of war. Spiritual
war. And the devil is doing all he
can to destroy us. But the blessing is even there. Even there, on the battlefield,
the Lord is with us. Even there, the Lord supports
us. We're able to recognise that
great truth, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. Yes,
the Lord went with David, didn't he? All those years ago when
he fought Goliath and many other battles, but the Goliath battle
was wonderfully outstanding and his confidence was in his God. And his God was faithful. And
it's God directed that stone from that sling. Just one stone
directed by God and killed the giant Goliath. Our God is able
to do great things. May our confidence be in God
as it was with David, as it was with the Apostle Paul, as it
has been with all the saints of God. And may it truly be with
us, a wonderful favour and a wonderful blessing. And to realise this
promise is so true, it may be going to strengthen perhaps many
days, perhaps all our life. To realise that what God has
said is true, even there. Shall thy hand lead me, and thy
right hand shall hold me, And that means that the Lord will
bring us, by His grace, safe home to glory, where of course
He is, even there, eternally. It's a great prospect, isn't
it? It's a great consideration to
realise that we're journeying on, through time, through our
life, to that time when we, by His grace, will be with Him,
we shall indeed be even there in glory.