May it please the Lord to bless
us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us
turn to the book of Psalms, and Psalm 143, and we'll read verse
10. Psalm 143, and reading verse 10. This is the Psalm of David,
the 10th verse reads, teach me to do thy will. for thou art my God, thy spirit
is good, lead me into the land of uprightness. It is really quite a short sentence,
but it is a very important sentence and a very relevant sentence
to us today. It was indeed a prayer of David.
He commences the psalm by saying, Hear my prayer, O Lord, give
ear to my supplications. What it means is this, that David
wanted God to hear and to answer his prayer. He didn't want to
pray just a prayer which was mere words or like The apostle
Paul tells us when he was in Athens and when he said the people
were worshipping the unknown God. Well, David did not pray
to the unknown God. David prayed to the God that
he believed in and the God that he knew. And what a blessing
for us today if we pray, and I hope we all pray, You may say,
what is prayer? Well, let me just tell you what
prayer is. Very simply, for you young people especially. You
know, you and I live, don't we, on this earth. We've all got
a body. And what do we do to live? We breathe, don't we? If we didn't breathe, we'd be
dead, wouldn't we? That's pretty obvious, isn't
it? We all understand that if we don't breathe, we have no
life. So you may say, well, how does
that relate to prayer? To the person who is born again
by the Spirit of God, prayer is their spiritual breath. And without prayer, there is
no real evidence of spiritual life, so that we can evaluate
the life of our souls by the prayers which we offer up to
God and the times that we do pray. We don't only have to come
in a special way to pray to God. We can pray to God throughout
the day. We can pray to God whether we're
in bed or walking down the road or at work or at college or at
school or wherever it may be. We can pray to God. Because we
know that God is in every place and he hears our prayers. And
may we therefore be amongst those who do pray to God throughout
the day. Pray to God that he will help
us, give us wisdom to deal with all the things that come into
our lives, give us understanding, and give us natural understanding
and also give us spiritual understanding. Now the favour and blessing is
that we today have a God who hears and answers prayer. It may be our wonderful blessing
to take advantage of it and to not not pray and not forget to
pray, but we found often in prayer, to pray at all times. Well, David starts by saying,
hear my prayer. We won't go through this psalm. I could have read it this morning,
but I wanted to read that ninth chapter of Nehemiah. But nonetheless, you can go home
and you can read this 140th psalm. And it has some wonderful statements
in it. And if you read it prayerfully
and carefully, you will find the statements will be encouraging. So you may say, well, so why
did you read the Ninth of Nehemiah? Well, I read it because it is
a wonderful account of Israel being taught the way of God. And it also gives us the very
sad account on numerous occasions when they departed from God,
when they disobeyed God, when they walked in an opposite direction,
when they rebelled against God. And if you ponder and think of
those things, it's really quite amazing how God didn't kill them
all. He threatened to on some occasions. Moses prayed to God that he would
not. They deserved it. But God was
compassionate. God was very gracious. I hope
this morning as we read through that wonderful chapter, and it
is, a wonderful chapter, that Nehemiah was able to speak to
those Israelites on that occasion and how they were, before God,
hearing the Word of God. And as you think of those things,
it was of course, read the Law of God. The Law of God which
was read to them, as you may realise, was the first five books
of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
and Deuteronomy. which were the books that Moses
had written, which were the books that Israel had, and of course
Moses had written it in a big scroll, and the scroll was laid
up before the Ark of the Covenant, and they'd had that really through
their journeys, until it would appear they were taken captive
by the Babylonians, and then it was lost. But nonetheless,
thankfully, copies had been taken. So there were copies of it. And
that, no doubt, was what Israel were now having read to them. And you imagine having it read
for six hours and hearing the Word of God spoken to you for
six hours. What it would have been a wonderful thing, wouldn't
it? And yet they didn't say when
they were bored with it and they were fed up with it. They listened. What a good thing it is when
you and I listen. Perhaps you young people get a bit bored
with the sermon. You think, well, I'm a bit fed up with this and
I wish it was finished. Well, just think, it is a blessing
that you are able to come and to listen. Because many people
today do not have the facility to listen to a sermon, to hear
God's words preached. So don't come and think, well,
it's a boring thing and I wish I wasn't here this morning. But
be very thankful to God that you are here. And whenever you're
able to come, be thankful to God that it is a blessing. Now, in this verse I read you
this morning, really there are several points in it. First of
all, David comes and he says this, teach me to do thy will. I want to take notice of that,
because he doesn't come and say in that, Lord, show me what to
do. There are many occasions when
he does say just that. Show me, Lord, what to do. And
in the 27th Psalm and the 11th verse, he says, teach me thy
way. And of course, we all need that,
that God will show us his way for us. But having shown us His
way, then this word follows on. Teach me to do Thy will. You and I need to think upon
those words, because they are very relevant. And many people
today seem to not be aware that the Bible gives us such gracious
instructions. And they think that they can
do what they want to do. No, David says, teach me. And perhaps we need teaching.
We need instruction. Children need instruction, don't
they? They need to be taught what to
do. From a very young age, they need
to be taught what to do. And we, if we are the people
of God from a very young age spiritually, We need to be taught
the way of God and then to do the way of God. And so he comes
and says, teach me to do thy will. It's a good prayer to go
home and to pray such a prayer as this. Teach me to do thy will. I'm
sure most of you know that I often refer you to the blessed example
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the example that
we have in the Word of God to follow. We are not to follow
anyone else. But the Lord Jesus Christ came
to do the will of his Father. That was the purpose. for his
time on this earth, to do the will of his father. And he performed that will that
his father had given him to do. And he followed it to completion. And it was a very difficult position
that he was in. And it wasn't an easy task. It was a most difficult task
that Jesus had And if you read the New Testament, if you read
the Gospels, you'll find how difficult it was for the Lord
Jesus Christ, what opposition he had. And yet, you see, he
steadfastly did the will of his father. And so what a blessing
for us today to be concerned also to do the will of our God
and to perhaps inquire Like this, teach me to do thy will. And when the going gets a bit
difficult, and when the going gets a bit tough, which it probably
will, in fact I expect I could say it will, because the path
of a true Christian is never easy. And you may say to me,
why is it not easy? I'll tell you why it's not easy,
because The devil doesn't want you to do God's will and therefore
he will give you every reason why you should not do God's will. Don't listen to him. Don't listen to him. You and I need to stand before
God this morning and to see whether We are doing God's will. What do you say to that? What
do you say to that this morning? As you stand before God, it's
not before me, we all stand before God. And are you and I doing
God's will for us? Go back to the account in the
ninth of Nehemiah and on many occasions when the people did
not do God's will. And we have that account written
to teach us not to disobey God. It's not just written for an
interesting historical account. It's written there for us today. You see we live in a day when
Everything goes. We all want to please ourselves.
We're not prepared to follow a despised and crucified Saviour. And yet we expect Jesus to come
to us and take us to heaven, and yet we're not prepared to
take up our cross and follow Him. We're not prepared to do
His will. Well, teach me. May the Holy Spirit come powerfully
into our hearts and teach us what his will is for each one
of us. And when I say that, I mean this.
You and I are to come with an open mind and not have a preconceived
plan of how it's going to work out. And if you trace the life of
David, you will find that there were many occasions in David's
life when he came and desired God's will to be shown to him,
that he might do it. And he did. When God told him
his will, he did it. Now the blessing is this. When
God instructs us, We can believe that God is with us. And we can
believe that God will not leave us. If we walk in an opposite way
to God, you can believe he will leave you. But he said the blessing is if
you and I are favoured to do God's will, what do we have? We have the answer of a good
conscience before God. You haven't then got a bad conscience
keep nagging you and reminding you you're not doing that which
is right and you're avoiding it and you're turning away. You'd
have the answer of a good conscience. And what does that bring? Peace
with God. Peace with God. Teach me to do
thy will. And again that has reflect. upon
the work of the blessed Saviour, who did the will of his Father. Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ
had not done the will of his Father, there would be no hope
for you and me today. But the Lord Jesus Christ did
it completely. There was nothing lacking. And
that's why, when he was crucified upon that cross, and just before
he died, When he gave up his soul, when he gave up his spirit,
he said these wonderful words, it is finished. He had completed
his father's work and that work was to give himself as that wonderful
sacrifice for the sins of his people. He died that we might
live. He shed His precious blood that
we might be forgiven. Oh, what a gracious and glorious
God we have, wonderfully doing His Father's will. And so with
that example before us, and may that really influence us, I pray
it may really influence us, as we have such an example set before
us in the Word of God. that our desire today may be,
in these words, teach me to do thy will. Now, David was coming
to his God, and he says, for thou art my God. And if you and I come truthfully
desiring, the Lord will teach us to do his will, surely it
will be because we are coming to a God who we believe in. We're not coming to a God that
we don't believe in because there's no point in praying, is there?
If we come to a God that we don't believe in, we need to come to
a God who we do believe in. And you may remember, that the
Apostle Paul, when he wrote to the Romans, instructed them in
this when he said, in the 10th chapter of the Romans and the
13th verse, it tells us this, for whosoever That's a good gospel word. For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's true. But it goes on just
to qualify it. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? There's no point in praying to
a God that you and I don't believe in. And how shall they believe
on him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear
without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? That's a very clear line there,
isn't there, for us? Just listen. There's no point
in praying unless we believe. And there's no point in believing
unless we know whom we have believed on, who we've heard. and how
we heard, through the preaching of the gospel. And he says, and
how shall they preach, except they be sent? There are many
false preachers about today. But if there are those who are
sent by God, they are preaching the truth, and it's through the
power of God that it enters into the hearts of true believers. And so may we have the blessing
and evidence that we are amongst those who are coming to the God
that you and I believe in. And may it be this morning that
we are able to come and say, I believe in this God, in this
great God, in this almighty God. For Thou art my God. That's why,
if David was able to come, and to ask and to pray like this,
teach me to do thy will. He wasn't asking somebody who
didn't have any knowledge. He wasn't asking somebody who
would give him a biased opinion. He was coming to the God who
he knew, who would direct him in a right way to do that which
was God honoring in accordance with the will of his Father in
heaven. What a wonderful thing it is
for us today. to desire to do the will of God
our Father, and to seek that we might be taught by it, for
thou art my God. Well, do you and I have a God
today? Have we someone that we can refer
to as my God? It's a very great comfort, you
know, to have a God who you can come to in every time of need,
A God who is always ready to hear and answer prayer. A God
who never sleeps. A God who is always awake. Whose
God is in every place. A God who knows all about us. This is the almighty God that
his people have. Wonderful, isn't it? Wonderful
to have such a God. And as we know through the Word
of God and as we know through the account in the ninth of Nehemiah,
there was a God who heard and answered the cries, the prayers
of his people. And today rests in the truth
of God when he tells us in Malachi, I am the Lord, I change not.
Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. You see we have
an unchangeable merciful God who doesn't change. For thou
art my God. Well I earnestly desire and pray
that all of us this morning may be able to come to Almighty God
in prayer because we have the wonderful evidence that He is
our God. And that he is that one who has
loved us so much that he gave his life so that you and I might
be forgiven all our sins. For thou art my God. And he goes
on then to say, thy spirit is good. Thy spirit is good. That's another reason why I read
this chapter in Nehemiah this morning. Because Nehemiah confirms
this same truth. And in this 9th chapter, and
in the 20th verse, he says these very beautiful words. Thou gavest
also thy good spirit to instruct them. What a mercy that was. What a mercy it is still for
us today to have the evidence that God has given us His good
Spirit to instruct us, His good Spirit to teach us, to bless us, to guide us. It's the wonderful Spirit of
God. And how we sometimes fail to
realise that God is a spirit. We know, the Word of God tells
us, there are three persons in the Godhead. Difficult, I should
perhaps say impossible, for us to really understand. God the
Father, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Holy
Spirit. And to think that Almighty God
gives us himself as the Good Spirit to instruct us. Well, Nehemiah confirms to Israel
that that's what they had been the beneficiaries of all through
those many years since Abraham came out of Ur of the Chaldeas
that single man and through him there were millions
now who were blessed with this same good spirit Abraham was
blessed with the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God commanded him
to come out of that place that he was living in, Ur of the Chaldees. It wasn't a godly place, it was
an ungodly place. And you know he left it. He didn't
know where he was going, but he knew he was doing the Word
of God. Teach me to do thy will. God
taught Abraham, and God was with Abraham, and as I hope you know
as you read the word of God, the account of Abraham, how God
wonderfully blessed him and how God wonderfully led him, and
how God wonderfully spoke to him. And so, teach me to do thy
will. For thou art my God, thy spirit
is good. Abraham proved that God's Spirit
was good to him. For all those years that he lived,
many years he lived, and God was with him, and God blessed
him. Of course he didn't have an easy
life either, did he? And you just imagine, Abraham,
God had promised him he would have a great family, or at least
from him there would be a vast family. And yet, he hadn't got
a son. How could it happen? How could it happen? Eventually,
God came and told him he would have a son, but he was an old
man then, and his wife was an old woman. How was that possible? You know what we're told of Abraham?
He believed God. And because of that wonderful
belief, it was accounted unto him for righteousness. He was
righteous in the sight of God, because God had given him grace
to believe that which was spoken to him. Now, again, it didn't
come about immediately. It was a good number of years
before it came to pass. But eventually, God blessed him
with a son. And the son was called Isaac
when he was an old man. And Sarah's wife was an old woman. And then just realizing that
this truth was great with him, thy spirit is good. He believed
the spirit of God was with him. And even when God came and told
Isaac, sorry, called Abraham to offer up his son Isaac. What? the son of promise, offer
him up as a sacrifice. He didn't hesitate. He didn't
hesitate. He set off on his journey. He
went up the mountain that God had instructed him to. He built
an altar. He placed Isaac upon it. And
it was just as he was about to fulfilled the command of God
and to slay his son, the Lord told him to stop. For now I know that thou believest
God." What was it? A trial of faith. And therefore as we have such
an example, in the Word of God is a trial of faith. We should
be encouraged to believe that we may have a difficult path,
but to believe that God will be with us, as he was with David,
as he has been with every true believer. He has not left them. He's not forsaken them. He's
tested their faith. He's tested whether they do believe
in God or not. My friends, you and I today don't
think that you and I will be exempt from a test of our religion. Don't think that you'll be able
to somehow have a back staircase that you can creep up. No, my
friends, God's people had to go out the front staircase. It
had to be those who are witness, testaments of God's grace and
of God's goodness. Thy spirit is good. No doubt
about it. No doubt. about it, how wonderful
it is. And you may think, well, this
spirit is good. Yes, it was good to my apostle
Paul, who no doubt you are familiar with, that Paul, of course, he
went about doing all that which was contrary to God. And until
that wonderful occasion when he was walking on the road towards
Damascus, And God came by his spirit and struck him down. A bright light shone right into
his heart. And he was, he came trembling
and astonished. And what did he say? What did
he say? Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do? God's Spirit was upon him. What
would they have me to do? A complete change in that man's
life. Previously, he'd been rushing
along, doing what he thought was right. He was wrong. But
God came on that amazing way, on that
Damascus road, to call him, call him. and make Him willing in
the day of God's power to do His will. What a blessing if
you and I know the Spirit of God directing us to do His will,
not our will. Because doing His will will bring
honour and glory to God. Let me remind you again, Our
life is not for our own glory. It is for the honour and glory
of God. And may we be very conscious
and very concerned that it may be so. And then, teach me to
do thy will. He goes on to say, lead me into
the land of uprightness. What does this mean? Well, uprightness
really means that the way is level, that the way is plain,
and the way is straight. Now that's a good prayer, isn't
it? To seek that God will lead you and me in that way. We know
that the way may be difficult, but it's a good thing to desire
the Lord to lead us in a plain path, in a direct way, a straight
course, and it will be level. It won't be up and down. You
see, the path of the Christian often is mountainous. And David
knew what that was like. He'd had a tough old life, hadn't
he? But here he comes, you see, to this way. And he prays like
this. And we have these prayers in
the Word of God to instruct us today. Teach me to do thy will. And
in doing the Lord's will, that that path might be into the land
of uprightness. The straight way. Not to be led
into a wrong path, a crooked path, a wrong way. Lead me. Now, we can pray that, can't
we, to God? Teach me to do thy will. And
therefore, if God is leading us and we've prayed for God to
lead us, then we shouldn't come in and say, well, oh, I don't
think I want to do this. I don't think I fancy this path. And yet, if we've prayed, The
Lord will teach us to do His will, and now He's leading us
into the land of uprightness, and we view it and we think,
well, I'm not sure if it is. You see, we read in the 107th
Psalm, He, the Lord, led them forth by the right way. that they might go to a city
of habitation. And God does lead his people
by the right way. It might not seem the right way
to you and me. But if we are seeking earnestly
that God would teach us to do his will, that means that we
may be directed to do his will. He will show us how to do his
will. and not to be rebellious, and
not be disobedient, and not be hard-hearted. But you see, that
way of doing His will, will without any doubt bring us into communion
with the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Lord Jesus Christ went in
the way and did the will of His Father. And we have that path
set before us as a glorious example. And let us remember, as I mentioned,
the Lord did not please himself. And we have that statement when
the Lord Jesus Christ was in that, the Garden of Gethsemane
just on that night before he was, at the night when he was
betrayed and then he was crucified the next day. And he knew what
was before him. And we're told he was in an agony.
So perhaps our path may appear so difficult. And perhaps we
think, I can't do it. The Lord Jesus cried, nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done. Willing to do his father's will. Oh, bless God, my friends. if
the Lord comes and gives us of his good spirit
to do his will and to be led therefore into the land of uprightness. And so we have here the desire
of David. And my friends, today, this morning,
may it be our prayer and our desire from our heart, truly
before God. And just remember, this is not
my word. This is the word of God. May we tremble before it. May we be concerned to ever obey
his voice. and to not harden our hearts. We're told, today, if you will
hear my voice, harden not your heart. Teach me, teach me to
do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy spirit is good, lead
me. into the land of uprightness. Amen.