May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to Psalm
119 and we'll read verse 89. Psalm 119 and reading verse 89. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. It's a very short statement,
but it's a very important statement. And it is a true statement. And we should recognise the Word
of God is true. Indeed, the Lord Jesus said,
when he prayed to his Father, Thy Word is true. We're thankful
for it. But also it's a solemn realisation
that everything that is recorded in the Word of God is true. And
everything that is prophesied to come to pass, will come to
pass. Nothing will fail. And so we
today, as poor sinners, mortal sinners, stand before this great
God. And we have to stand before this
great God. And we face this great God, who
does not change. And we're told therefore, forever. Forever. That means that throughout
eternity the Word which was settled in eternity past will continue
to be the Word which occurs and the things which are spoken and
the things which are ordained by Almighty God will come to
pass. They are settled. Nothing can
change it. in Malachi we read those words
I am the Lord, I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed
and it's very easy for us to forget the greatness of God it's
very easy for us to forget we do have a God who is high and
mighty a God who has created the world and everything therein
the Lord who still reigns today He reigns powerfully and mightily.
He controls everything. We see things happening in the
world. Those natural things which have
occurred. We see floods. We see fires raging. We see the
COVID advancing. And all these things have been
settled in heaven. And not just occurring by chance. They're all ordained by Almighty
God, down to the very smallest fire, the very weakest corvid
case. It's all ordained by Almighty
God in a natural way and of course so much greater in a spiritual
way because the Word of God is settled upon every one of us. Every one of us comes under that
category. A time to be born and a time
to die. We've all been born, haven't
we? We've all been born naturally. It's a time to die. And then there's also a time
to be born spiritually to all those who are the children of
God. And what a blessing, therefore,
to know that we are amongst those. We commence our reading tonight
by reading verse 49 in this 119th Psalm. And it tells us, Remember
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. As we read such a word as that,
I wonder what kind of response we have, each one of us, on our
own heart before God. Have we received from God a word,
a word which has settled in heaven in eternity past, a word that
would come and be applied to our heart and a word upon which
we have been caused to hope. It's a very sanitary statement,
isn't it? It's a very important statement.
And what a mercy it is, tonight, if as we think upon these words,
forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven, we can have
the confidence and the comfort that the Lord has settled the
word in our heart, a word which was settled in eternity past,
and in God's appointed time, and in God's appointed way, that
word came to pass in our lives. And if it hasn't come to pass
as yet, are we concerned that it will come to pass, that there
will be a word which is directed straight at our heart that word which may be indeed
sharper than a two-edged sword and pierce into our very innermost
being. A word from Almighty God and
a word which we find and prove is a blessed word because it
is a word upon which our hope is fixed. And that means our
hope for eternal life. That means a hope that one day,
by the grace of God, we shall be found in glory, worshipping
Almighty God, and be wonderfully favoured to view our Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and to view our Father, and to view
the Holy Spirit. It is, of course, to mortal man
a mystery which is beyond our natural understanding but nonetheless
there will be that revelation to the people of God when we
pass out of time into eternity. Oh forever O Lord thy word is
indeed settled in heaven. What a mercy it is to know that
because if God's word wasn't settled If we thought God could
change his mind, if God could change his view, then how desperate
it would be for you and me. Because we fall, we fail, we
sin. We know that every sin has to
be atoned for. And to recognise, therefore,
that unless those sins are atoned for, we have no hope of eternal
blessing. We have no hope of eternal life,
but to realise that because God's Word is settled. If God has therefore
placed in our heart His Word, which we remember, and that Word
which has caused us to hope, and it is significant that when
the Lord speaks His Word to our souls, it is a Word which is
remembered. Sometimes, perhaps, we go some
time without remembering it. And then the Lord brings us into
a situation where we look back and we remember the word which
God has spoken to us. And what is that? It's a word
of encouragement. It's a word of comfort. It's
a word of blessing. We may not have very many words. We may perhaps only have one
word. But what a blessing it is if
you and I have one word that we can remember. One word that
was settled in heaven. One word that will never be erased. One word which will never be
removed. Because it's a word which indeed
is written in our heart. A word which has been applied
by the Holy Will of God. A word which has been applied
by the Holy Spirit of God. So what a mercy tonight if we
can remember a word. Unto thy servant upon which thou
hast caused me to hope. I hope we can, but if we can't,
may we be found praying unto God mightily that he may give
us a word, speak to our hearts, to give us that hope that we
are one of the children of God. Because this is really the vital
thing. As we pass through our little
life, as we pass through time, there will become that occasion
when our life ends, when we are finished with time. And then
what a blessing it is to be found with Christ, which is far better. And we should only be found with
Christ, which is far better, if we have received his word
into our heart. The Lord does speak, the Lord
does encourage, The Lord does confirm His word, so we won't
go through life without any settlement in our hearts. It may be perhaps
many years, but the time will come when we shall rejoice in
what the Lord speaks to us. And to realise then that that
word is settled, can't be changed. What a blessing that is. What
a strength that is to us as we journey on. To realise, yes,
by the grace of God, by His love toward us, a word spoken is settled
in our heart, it's settled in heaven, and it won't be changed. And therefore we can truly thank
and bless Almighty God for His wonderful favours to award us. What a mercy it is. The Lord
is a gracious God. The Lord does not deal with us
as our sins deserve, but is full of compassion and indeed is merciful. We have the evidence of things
all around us to prove that the Lord God omnipotent reigns. And
in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 35, Thus saith the Lord, which
giveth the sun for light by day, and the ordinances of the moon
and the stars for light by night, which divided the sea with the
waves thereof raw, the Lord of hosts is his name. Those ordinances depart from
before me, saith the Lord. Then the seed of Israel also
shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith
the Lord. If the heaven above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will
also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have
done, saith the Lord. Well, there we have And we see
the evidence, don't we, naturally, in the sun and moon and the stars. We've seen the sun today in the
heavens. We've seen the moon the last
couple of nights, and we'll see it tonight, God willing, as a
bright moon, and we'll see the stars. And it's the evidence
that God rules and reigns. It doesn't change. And as he
says, if these things depart, from before me, saith the Lord,
then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation
before me forever. That really means, of course,
the whole Church of God. So what a blessing it is to realise
as you and I look at the moon, look at the stars and look at
the sun, we have the evidence that we have the true Almighty
God, which does not change. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. It's a great blessing, therefore,
to have a God which settles everything for our encouragement. And then
also, again in the same prophecy of Jeremiah, the Lord speaks
about the covenant. A covenant is something, it's
a sworn conditional statement. It's that which cannot be changed. and the servant of God Jeremiah
says in the 33rd chapter and in verse 19 we're told and the
word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah saying specifically God spoke
the word his word thus saith the Lord if ye can break my covenant
of the day and my covenant of the night and that there should
not be day and night in their season. Then may also my covenant
be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son
to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests
my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot
be numbered, neither the standard of the sea measured, so will
I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites but
minister unto me." It's good, isn't it, to be reminded of such
truths that you and I can observe in nature, which directs us to
the faithfulness of God and directs us, therefore, to the truth of
this Word. Forever, O Lord, thy Word is
settled in heaven. It does not change. It cannot
change. Because if God was to change,
He would not be a faithful God. We would not be able to rely
on His promises. We would not be able to rely
on what the Bible tells us. But thanks be unto God tonight,
we can rely upon the Word of God. The settled Word of God. It's settled in heaven. It's
not something which is on the earth. It's settled in heaven. it is eternally settled and therefore
may we rejoice in the truth of it because that settled word
directs us to the great and glorious plan that God has set before
us of salvation for never dying souls and as you and I journey
on as you and I look at ourselves as you and I realise that we
are sinners of the earth No hope in ourselves. No hope in redeeming
ourselves. If we had to rely on our own
ability, there would be no success. There would be no blessing. There
would be no redemption. And the result would be, we would
be eternally lost. Well, what a mercy then tonight,
if by the grace of God we can look out of ourselves, out of
ourselves, to rely upon God's Word. God's Word, which is settled
in heaven. In this 119th Psalm, it's split
up into sections, the Hebrew alphabet, and I think I'm right
that in every section we can read those two words, Thy Word. Thy Word. What a comfort, what
a blessing that should be to us. It's a wonderful psalm, this
119th psalm. There's tremendous truth in it.
There's very much gracious instruction and there's much comfort in it
to realize the truth of God. Thy word is settled in heaven. And so the word of God directs
us to his great work of salvation. Of course, that isn't limited
to the New Testament. We can trace it out in the Old
Testament, especially in the psalms. As David sets before
us the wonderful prophecy relating to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Church of God would have
relied upon those words for those hundreds of years after they
were written. Indeed, no doubt they relied
upon that word spoken by the Lord himself to Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden after they had sinned. That wonderful word
which he spoke and said The seed of the woman should crush or
bruise the serpent's head, the devil's head. And so in due time,
the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this
sinful world. And it was the Lord Jesus Christ
who conquered the devil, who conquered sin, death, hell and
the grave, our great and glorious Saviour. Think then of this great
statement, Thy word is settled in heaven. It was settled then,
right back at the beginning of time, when the Lord came and
spoke those words to Adam and Eve. Well, it was a word of wonderful
prophecy, but it was settled and it wasn't going to change,
and it didn't change. And in due time, the Lord Jesus
Christ came. And again it was prophesied he
was born of a virgin. He was born in Bethlehem. Yes,
he was born in that lowly condition. All those things were wonderfully
prophesied. The world was settled. Surely
that's a great strength to us today to read the word of God
and these wonderful prophecies which occurred. And then of course,
as it describes the Lord's life, and more especially his death,
right down to how he would die, right down to the nail holes
in his hands and his feet, and yet to realise the great blessing
for the church of God that all the members of that church are
engraved on his hands. What a comfort that should be
for you and me tonight. Thy word is settled in heaven. forever, it's not going to change. What a mercy then to think that
we have such a saviour, a gracious, glorious saviour, who created
all things and then totally and completely fulfilled all that
was needful to redeem our souls. Well, it's a wonderful favour
if we have this understanding. We're told heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my word will not pass away." This settled word
of God will not pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away,
there will be a new heaven and a new earth. In the time that
the Lord has ordained, a time only known to the Father, but
a certain time, a time which will come, this poor world this
sinful world will be burnt up people don't like to think of
that but the word of God is true it's settled all this world will
be burnt up and there will be a new heaven and a new earth
well what a blessing it is then if we are favoured to have God's
word spoken to our hearts to know that it is well with our
soul. To know then that God's word
toward us is settled and that it is well with our soul. We
don't want to just drag on, do we, through this world hoping
that something will turn up at the end. Somehow something will
occur before we die. And then you see like millions
of people pass out of time into eternity without the powerful
Word of God being applied to our hearts. It is so essential
that this Word of God settled in heaven is spoken to our very
souls so that we can indeed rejoice in the fact that God has visited
our souls with his salvation. Real religion is personal. We may be thankful to hear and
to read of the work of God, the Word of God in other people's
lives, but the reality is that you and I need the Word of God
to be settled in our hearts so that we can rely upon it. You know there is an assurance
in the things of God. Sometimes people back away from
that word, but there is an assurance and you and I should seek for
it, to have that word from God which is indelibly written in
our hearts which cannot be removed because it comes from God. I think sometimes people are
dishonest. They don't like to confess that
God has gloriously given them a word upon which they hope. They somehow like to pretend
that they don't really know. Such a condition is of course
God dishonouring. The Bible tells us, those that
honour me I will honour, and those that despise me shall be
lightly esteemed. So never despise God's Word. God speaks His Word to our souls,
that which He has ordained for us. Let us be very thankful for
that Word that is spoken, sometimes perhaps People expect a great,
wonderful word spoken of them, a great, wonderful revelation.
We're not promised that. We are promised that God will
speak to His people. He will confirm His word. And that's what you and I should
be concerned about. To know that the Lord has spoken
to our very soul and it's settled in heaven. and it won't be taken
away from us, it won't be removed. Well then tonight, just ponder,
just sit back a moment, just think, has God, in his sovereign
love and mercy, given us a word, a word that has caused us to
hope, a good hope, that we possess the gift of God, of eternal life. We may be seeking for many things
naturally, but don't forget what the Lord said, one thing is needful. One thing is needful. And there
was Mary, sat at Jesus' feet, listening to His words. That was her concern, to hear
the word of Jesus spoken to her heart. That's what she wanted
to hear. The Lord said, Mary has chosen
that good heart which shall not be taken away from her. Thy word
is settled in heaven. What a blessing for us tonight
then, if God's word to us is settled. Perhaps a word, a very
simple word. Yea, I love thee with an everlasting
love. And therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. And there we see the Word of
God, and there we see the effect of the Word of God. Because there
is an effect of God's Word in our heart. We are thankful if, therefore,
when God's Word comes into our heart, there is that drawing
power, that drawing blessing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because what He does, His name
is then lifted up. His name is then exalted. You see, our little life upon
this earth is not for our own gratification. It's to show forth
the praise of our Saviour. It's to show forth what He has
done. It's so that His name may be
lifted up and honoured and glorified. It should be a concern in our
hearts to do that. We are not to hide that which
God has done for us. It is to be set forth. It is
like a word of God describes us, that light that candle lit and gives a light,
shines forth, what a blessing then if God's Word in our heart,
His love toward us creates the wonderful light which shines
forth, that we have indeed been blessed, I'm blessed, forever
blessed, my rags are gone, And the Lord takes away all our own
self-righteousness, all our false religion, and brings us to rely
upon His settled Word to our soul. Thy Word is indeed settled
in heaven. You know the apostle Peter, he
knew the value of the settled Word. in his soul, in his heart. And Peter needed it. Peter had
sinned against God. He denied his Lord and Master.
And yet, you see, he was able to tell us in the first epistle
and in the first chapter. He tells us, beginning at verse
18, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things. Now again, the Apostle here gives
us this positive statement. For as much as ye know, these
things are to be known. Don't rest, my friends, short
of knowing these great truths, because they bring comfort to
our souls and they bring honour and glory to our God. We bless
God that Peter, by the Spirit, was able to write such truths,
forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received
by tradition from your fathers. And it is a great danger, you
see, receiving traditional things and relying upon them and thinking
they are saving. Well, the Apostle looks beyond.
the natural things of time, and he directs us to this great truth,
to be redeemed. What are we redeemed with? He
tells us, with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without
blemish and without spot. What a wonderful mercy to realise
that This great truth is granted to us so that we are settled. God settles our case. He calms our minds. He settles
us with a knowledge. You see, Peter had the blessed
knowledge, sinner that he was. As we may feel we're unworthy,
I hope we do. But nonetheless, bless God. If through his grace, We can
rejoice in the value of the blood of Christ. He says, who verily
was foreordained, right back in eternity past, foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times for you. Personal, you see, you and me.
Revelation. Remember this word that the Lord
has given to us, upon which he has caused us to hope, this blessed
word which is settled in heaven, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last
times for you, who by him realise its all of grace, it all redounds
to the honour and glory of our Saviour, who by Him do believe
in God. If you and I are blessed with
this believing faith, and we must be blessed with this believing
faith, because without it, it is impossible to please God,
who by Him do we rejoice tonight. And this is settled in heaven.
It's through the Saviour. To assure it, it should elevate
the Saviour. in our hearts, that we're drawn to Him in love and
admiration for all that He's done to redeem our souls, who
by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead and
gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. That means it's not in ourselves,
it's in what God has done. Yes, it's settled in heaven for
us unworthy sinners. Bless God for it tonight. What
a mercy it is, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying
the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren. See that you love one another
with a pure heart firmly. Gain the evidence of God's grace,
his love to the brethren, Love one to another, love from the
heart, the love of Christ yet abroad draws us one to another. So he says being born again,
not a corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God. It means
the seed which cannot die. It's incorruptible. It's God's
seed. It's that seed which He puts
within us, that new life. What a blessing then to have
this wonderful favour of this incorruptible seed by the Word
of God. The Lord speaks His Word. It's His Word that He speaks,
which is the incorruptible seed. It lodges in our heart. It's
germinated and it grows and it brings forth fruit to the honour
and glory of God. which liveth and abideth for
ever. For ever, you see, just like this word here. For ever,
O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Surely such statements
as this must be very encouraging to the Church of God. And I hope
they're very encouraging to you and me tonight. And so the Apostle
goes on. 4. All flesh is as grass, for
all the same And all the glory of man is as the flower of the
grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falleth away. But, there's so many important
buts in the Word of God, but the Word of the Lord, that Word
which is spoken to our hearts, the Word of the Lord doesn't
fade away. It endures forever. rest on it soul, bless God for
it, rejoice in it, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. Through the foolishness of preaching,
isn't it? What a blessing it is then to have the evidence
of the work of God in our hearts. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. It is eternally settle. Again, it's a situation which
is just too hard for our natural minds to comprehend. But God
gives faith. Faith to believe that things
which are impossible with men are possible with God. And it's
a great blessing if God gives us simple faith. It's not complicated. simple
faith to believe the Word of God, simple faith to trust the
Word of God, simple faith to rejoice in the Word of God which
is settled in heaven, which will never change. What a mercy, what
a blessing it is. You see we can look around us,
we can see year by year as the Lord has promised seed time and
harvest will not cease. We see it, the promises of God
being fulfilled day by day and therefore to thank God if His
promise has been fulfilled in our soul. You may say, well what
is that? They that seek shall find. They
that seek shall find. Therefore, no one need despair. No one may say, well, there's
no hope for me. There is. There is hope. There is hope. And bless God,
if it gives you that hope, which has caused you to rejoice, caused
you to look back and to remember The Word of the Lord which is
settled in heaven. You see, this Word of God, which
the Lord speaks to our souls, will bring us safe home to glory. But without it, there will be
no arriving safe home of glory. The Lord does come. The Lord
does quicken, make spiritually alive all of His Church. and all of his church rejoice
in what God has done. There must be so, because it's
a work which is outside of ourselves. It's not something which we merit
ourselves, not something which we could produce, but it's the
sovereign grace of God and it's through his amazing love. There is that hymn, isn't there?
which tells us sovereign grace, or sin abounding. What a blessing
that is when the Lord shows to us His grace, and it means His
unmerited favour to warn us as a sinner, deep in debt, with
no ability to free ourselves, bring ourselves out of the pit. David knew, didn't he, the answer.
He said, I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto
me, and heard my prayer, and brought me up out of the horrible
pit, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my gains, and
put a new song in my heart, even praise unto my God." The path
of the believer. The path of the seeker. The true seeker. because a true
seeker seeks believing that God will have mercy. The true seeker
believes that God will speak to them. We are not truly seeking. We don't trust and believe that
the Lord will speak to us. But therefore what a mercy if
the Lord gives us faith then to press on and to in a time
may be found. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. Well, tonight, let us be thankful
then for the word of God. Let us be thankful for the truth
of God. Let us be thankful for the promises
of God. Oh, my friends, bless God tonight. And he's left on record such
great and glorious promises to encourage us. And may we be found
looking unto Jesus. As Paul says in the Hebrews,
looking unto Jesus, the author, the one who begins, and the finisher,
the one who finishes our faith. Yes, that wonderful, great and
wonderful blessing and the Apostle Paul runs on and tells us something
of the greatness of this wonderful work when he comes and says,
wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a crowd of witnesses and we do have in the word of God in the
Bible many many cases of people who have been blessed with the
word of God directed to their souls to encourage them and to
strengthen them and therefore we have This great cloud of witnesses
says, let us lay aside every weight. You know what the biggest
weight is? The evil heart of unbelief. The
devil doesn't want you to believe. The devil doesn't want you to
trust in the Lord. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin
which does so easily beset us. Let us run with patience. The
race that is set before us. There is a race. It's not an
easy race. We'll need patience. That's why
the Apostle speaks like this. He knew the difficulty of the
race. He was given grace. He was given
patience. May we be blessed with it also.
And the secret? Here it is. Looking unto Jesus. Nowhere else. The author and
the finisher of our faith. This wonderful testimony of the
Saviour Himself. Who? For the joy that was set
before Him. The joy of that completed work
of salvation. The joy of having His people
with Him in glory. It's hard for us to appreciate,
isn't it? The joy of the Saviour to have us, saved sinners, with
Him in glory. The joy that were set before
him endured the cross, despised in the shame, and is set down
at the right hand of the throne of God, settled in heaven today,
the saving glory at the Father's right hand, there to intercede
for us. For consider him that endured
such contradiction as sinners against himself lest ye be weary
and faint in your minds. Encouragement to press on. Encouragement to pray on. Encouragement to believe the
great truth of this word. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. Well, tonight, may we bless God
for such a simple statement, a God-given statement, recorded
for the encouragement of the Church of God and may it be an
encouragement to you and me forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in
heaven. Amen.