May God be pleased to bless us
tonight as we consider his word. Let's turn to the book of Psalms,
Psalm 104 and reading verse 34. Psalm 104 and reading verse 34. My meditation of him shall be
sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. The word of God is really a word
that separates between the ungodly and the godly. Those who are
called by his grace and those who are not. Those who go to
heaven and those who go to hell. The Word of God is very separating
with regards to such positions. And we may say, well, how does
a word like this come into that category? My meditation on him
shall be sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. Well,
it's very easy and very clear because it would only be those
who are God's children that will understand and will know the
truth of this word. And all those who are not the
children of God will not know the truth of this word. And so it is a word worthy of
our consideration. And to give us that understanding
and that encouragement to believe that we are amongst the children
of God, as we may consider such a word as this. Now the psalmist
tells us his meditation. Meditation really is a time when
we can just think carefully and properly about certain things
and how important it is that God gives us that grace to be
able to meditate upon the Lord Jesus Christ, to meditate upon
what he has done, meditate upon his saving grace, his atoning
death. These are all great and important
things and I'm sure immediately we can realise that such considerations
really have no attraction to an unbeliever. They have no desire,
no intention of meditating upon the things of God and especially
upon the merits and the life and death and resurrection and
ascension and intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore
there will not be any sweetness in it. And that really is the,
as we might say, the touchstone, that thing which proves the truth
of it. that as we do meditate, then
it becomes sweet to our mind, to our taste. Think of that simple
line of the hymn, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's
ear. Well, that's a good statement
and it's a good truth and it's a good test of our religion.
as to whether the name of Jesus is a sweet name to us, something
that we rejoice in hearing. Do you love to hear about the
Lord Jesus Christ? Is he indeed food and drink to
you? Do you rejoice when you hear
his name being spoken? I don't mean in a blaspheming
way, but in a way of consolation, in a way of encouragement, Do
you find your heart drawn as you hear the name of Jesus spoken
about? Do you want to hear more? Do
you want to perhaps go near and gather with those that are speaking
about the name and the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, said the psalmist,
my meditation on him shall be sweet. He knew indeed the blessing
of it. He knew the comfort of it. And
how wonderful it is to have that and realise it is sweetness to
our soul. Now the ungodly are not so. They will not desire to hear
about the name of Jesus. He will mean nothing to them,
just an historical figure. something they may speak about,
just in perhaps a way which they may think is suitable, in a way
perhaps they might think impresses people, but the reality is that
this is the religion between our soul and God. It is a heartfelt
religion. It is something which moves our
spirit. It's not something which is an
academic ability. It's not something which just
is an outward effect. No doubt there will be an outward
effect, but it is that which is between your soul and God. My meditation of him shall be
sweet. And how much there is, surely,
to meditate on with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. We can
go through his life, can we not? best as we can in accordance
with the Word of God from the time perhaps when he was prophesied
to come as the Savior of the world. There are very many words
in the Old Testament which prophesy that the Lord Jesus would come
that he would come and save his people from his sins. And it
describes how he would die, how he would be born. It's all there
to be found in the Old Testament. And as we read the Old Testament
and as we meditate upon the truths which contains regarding especially
the Lord Jesus Christ, do we find that encouraging? Is it
sweet to our taste? Well, says the psalmist, the
meditation of him shall be sweet. And as we observe these mentions
in prophecy, that they may strengthen our faith, we may rejoice in
the fulfillment of those things which have come to pass, so that
they were not vain words, There is, of course, much history in
the Word of God which we're so thankful for. But let us remember,
every historical fact which is recorded is recorded by the Holy
Spirit of God. There were very, very many things
which occurred in the history of the world which are not recorded.
But those things which are recorded are important for us, important
for our meditation to see how they all interweave and direct
us to the Lord Jesus Christ. My meditation of him shall be
sweet. In an earlier psalm, David speaks
about the blessing of this and he says, In the 63rd Psalm, he
tells us in the 5th and 6th verses, my soul, and that of course is
the important part of our life, my soul is not our body. Our body perishes. Our soul lives
forever. My soul shall be satisfied as
with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with
joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on
thee in the night watches." So David was able to proclaim the
satisfaction he was blessed with as at night time. He was able
to meditate on the Lord in the night watches. Well, again, it's
a good evidence of the life of God in our souls. When you and
I wake up at night, and I guess most of us do, perhaps the younger
ones sleep all through the night, but if we do wake up in the night,
do our thoughts go immediately to the Lord Jesus Christ, to
the things of God? It's a good evidence. of the
life of God in our soul. Now, if you and I have been engaged
in some worldly pursuit, we're more likely to wake up in the
night with that upon our mind. But it's good to not have followed
worldly pursuits to the best of our ability. and to set our
hearts and our affections upon the things above, so that when
we do wake up in the night, our thoughts go and we meditate upon
the blessings of our God. And so remember here what David
says, his soul shall be satisfied. And you know it is satisfying. to our hearts. As the Lord comes
and blesses us with some meditation, it may not be very much, perhaps
a little, and there will be thankfulness in our heart that the Lord has
been gracious to us and has enabled us to think upon his name in
that time when we may have been awake. And so he says, my soul
shall be satisfied as a marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall
praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my
bed and meditate on thee in the night watch as well. Let us remember
the example and the testimony we have of God's servant David,
a man after God's own heart. My meditation of him shall be
sweet. Well, there's many facets of
the knot that we could consider, but perhaps when we realise what
we are before a holy God, how we stand before a holy God, when
we realise what we are and what we deserve, that we don't deserve
any favour and we don't deserve any mercy and we do deserve to
be cast off. We do deserve to be cast out
and cut off from this earth as the Word of God describes as
a cumbra of the ground, no benefit at all. We do deserve that. Now when the Spirit of God directs
us to that condition and the Spirit of God will direct you
and me to that condition, If we are to be and to know his
voice speaking to us in comfort, there will be that observation
and that awareness of our true state before our holy God, which
is not something that you and I can rejoice in. It's something
that you and I will mourn about and will plead for mercy. Perhaps you can't get beyond
that little prayer. God be merciful to me a sinner. Well, that's a good start. And
that's a good beginning. Because unless we know ourselves
in that position, we will never be able or want to meditate upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. You may ask me why? Very simply,
we will not have a need be satisfied with our life. We don't need
a saviour and we may view ourselves as good in our own eyes. There
are many people today, many professing Christians, who just possess
a name. They are not born again in the
spirit of God. They just are satisfied with
a name, a name to live, to be under the cloak of Christianity,
but no personal experience, no personal meditation, no rejoicing
in the sweetness of that name which is above every name. They
do not know the way. They have not come through that
wicket gate. As it were, they jumped over
the wall. They missed out that beginning. We come through that
gate, we come through that way, that way of being taught our
lost and ruined state, because it's only then that we are directed
to the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. And there may be a time,
there may be a situation when you realise your lost condition
but don't really know what to do, where to look. You may think,
well, that's obvious. Well, it may not be obvious.
And you may not really know how to proceed. Well, as I've said
sometimes before, if you're in that condition and you don't
know where you are, you don't know what you want, well, pray
then that you may have a desire after spiritual things. Perhaps
you may not be able to even pray that, in which case you can come
a step lower and you can pray for a desire, for a desire, after
spiritual things. And you see, if the Lord indicts
that prayer in your heart, it will be answered. The Lord will
appear. He will come. He will draw you
unto himself. He will show you himself. He
will show you the blessedness that exists in him. You will
meditate then, and your meditation then will be sweet. So let us
remember, in order to be a partaker of this statement, you can't
have got over the wall. You must have entered in the
right way through that gate, and that gate is a gate of conviction
of sin. But if you come in that gate,
and if you're now on the journey of life, that eternal life, that
life that leads to eternal blessing, then as the Lord leads and directs
you to be able to come and meditate, my meditation of Him. Remember
what the psalmist says, it was of Him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it is important that we understand that, because His name is to
be honoured and glorified. If there's no meditation, if
there's no understanding of the blessedness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, you see, there will be nothing to honour and glorify
His great and holy name. And your life and my life, if
we come through that wicked gate, we're in the way, our life is
to bring honor and glory to God. It's not to satisfy ourselves.
It's not to please ourselves. It is to please our kind and
gracious God. And the Spirit of God will show
you and me and convince us of the truth of that, that it's
His name that is to be exalted, not our name. We are to be less
than the least of all saints. That's what the Apostle Paul
explains, doesn't he? When he refers to himself, less
than the least of all saints, the very lowest person. Are you
and I willing to be found like that? Well, it's such a situation,
it's such an experience, it's such a life that then directs
us to that time when by the grace of God we are able to come and
to meditate my meditation of him shall be sweet. Now then, the Lord may teach
us in different ways. We may not always go in an orderly
pattern in that knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Lord knows how he will deal with you and deal with me, and
sometimes it's in very different ways. And he may perhaps bring
forth something with regard to his life, something with regard
to his death or his resurrection or perhaps his intercession or
ascension, apart one of those elements which the Lord may bless
to you, perhaps initially, and it will give you cause to meditate,
and that meditation will be sweet. So we cannot lay down, as it
were, a chronological order in so far as how the Lord will deal
with our souls. Our God is a sovereign. and he
deals in that way which you and I will be instructed in and also
that way which you and I will need in our spiritual life. The Lord brings us into experiences
in a way that we will need. The Lord never wastes and experience
in our life. He never wastes a revelation. When I say revelation, don't
expect some great, wonderful thing. But the Lord may just
very smoothly, very calmly, very quietly perhaps, open your understanding
to the truth of God's Word in some particular way. And that
will be a revelation to your soul. What does it mean? I believe it's this. Our spiritual
eyes are opened. We have natural eyes, we see.
It's a wonderful blessing when God gives us spiritual eyes and
we see wonderful things in the Word of God concerning our Lord
Jesus Christ. And we see the importance of
those things which are recorded. Well, thinking then of the life
of the Lord Jesus, and perhaps in a chronological way, if you
like, thinking of his birth, what an amazing birth it was.
Was it important? Yes, it was. He had to be born
in that way of a virgin, the Virgin Mary. Yes, because it
was God that brought about that birth in a most miraculous way. And as we ponder that birth,
you think after Mary had conceived, she went to see Elizabeth and
John, who was of course in the womb of Elizabeth, when Mary
came and spoke to Elizabeth, John leapt in the womb of Elizabeth
with joy at the realisation that there was a saviour who was to
be born into the world to save his people from their sins. And
so we see then the Saviour. How was he born? In a kingly
position? Not at all. And again, this will
be rejoicing for you as you meditate upon it. He was born in the most
lowly circumstances. Why was that? It was so that
no one would be able to say that he was born in a more mean situation. The Saviour was born in the poorest
way possible. No one could be lower than the
Lord Jesus Christ when he took on him the human form, the human
nature. And so meditate upon Christ's
birth. There's a great fullness in it.
It's not just a simple matter of a baby being born. There was
a great depth in the way he was born. And then as he was brought
up as a lad, we trace how he was left behind in Jerusalem
when he was a young lad and his mother and father of course didn't
find, didn't see him. They had to go back and they
found him eventually sitting amongst the priests and teaching
them and they were amazed. Now his mother and father didn't
understand. And he said to them, wished you
not, and I must be about my father's business. They didn't understand. Their eyes were blinded. Although,
of course, Mary had that wonderful revelation by the angel who had
come to her and had told her that she would have this baby
and would call his name Jesus. You see, we only see things as
they are revealed to us. We may think, well, sure, that
was very, very obvious. But it is to us now. but it wasn't
to Joseph and Mary at that time. And it's a good example for us
because sometimes we may misjudge one another. We may sometimes
think, well, surely they would understand that. Surely that's
very simple. Well, unless the Spirit of God
has opened our understanding You see, we won't necessarily
appreciate some of the great truths concerning our Saviour. But when our understanding is
opened, and when we're able to meditate and realize it has been,
it's then the revelation becomes sweet to our understanding. And
we then understand and know what the psalmist said when he said,
my meditation of him shall be sweet. And so then the Lord Jesus
then lived his life in that hidden way really until he was 30 years
of age. And then of course John the Baptist,
that herald, he came and was baptising in Jordan. And it was
wonderful to think that the Lord Jesus was revealed to him when
he came. When he came to John, And John
was able to declare those great words of truth. Behold, the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Now, those words
were very significant, weren't they? Remember, to meditate upon
Him, the Lord Jesus, who was called the Lamb. The Lamb, you
may remember, goes back in history to the Passover night. when that
lamb was taken, typifying the Lord Jesus Christ. Taken, slain,
roast in the fire, and the blood taken and placed upon the doorposts
and the lintels. Now, Israel were very aware of
what that lamb meant, what it signified. It signified there
was freedom, there was deliverance, They were under the blood. There
was a safety in those houses. Under the blood. Safety. They
realised the importance of it. And of course there were many
sacrifices after and before which had been brought about by the
shedding of blood. And so there John the Baptist
was able to come and proclaim, Behold the Lamb of God. Now he was instructing the people. And the Word of God instructs
us in the same way. And what a blessing it is for
us to meditate upon these things and to behold the Lord Jesus
Christ as the blessed Lamb of God. The Passover Lamb was slain. He was roast in the fire. Yes,
indicating the wrath of God. My friends, the Lord Jesus Christ
was roast in God's wrath which he took upon himself in order
to redeem us. It was a wonderful picture that
we have in the Word of God in that Passover ordinance to realize
how wonderful it was and how necessary it was and it was the
Lord's way of showing so clearly to Israel the way of salvation,
the way of natural deliverance, and the way of spiritual deliverance.
And so, as you and I may be able to meditate on such truths, may
they be sweet to us as we think of the goodness of God. And it
was, wasn't it, the goodness of God revealing these things
to Israel in that wonderful illustration. And of course, they carried it
on for so many years. And it was on the Passover night,
of course, the Lord Jesus Christ was taken after he had carried
out the Passover with his disciples. But just going back to that time,
the Lord Jesus Christ was spoken to by John the Baptist, and the
Lord Jesus Christ was baptized in Jordan. He set before us that
wonderful scene, that wonderful example. It was a great and glorious
example. And after he's baptised, when
he came up out of the water, John bear witness. He saw that
dove descending upon him and that voice from heaven saying,
this is my beloved son, hear him. What an evidence of the
goodness of God. in sending his only beloved son
into this world, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish
but have eternal life." Think of it then. Meditate upon that
great example of the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered himself to
be baptised in Jordan by John the Baptist. And we have that
before us today and of course that signifies, does it not,
a wonderful truth It wasn't just a casual situation. It was very
important, because the true followers of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ,
those who meditate, are given grace to meditate, they see a
wonder in that truth of believers' baptism, going down with the
Saviour, being buried with Him, and rising again to the newness
of life. wonderful significance in that
simple ceremony, that simple act. What a blessing it is that
we have it set before us, what truth there is in it, and may
we think of the wonder of it as we see what the Lord Jesus
went through and see the significance of it and bless God for it. How wonderful it is because without
the Saviour, without His death, without His resurrection, No
hope for us, no hope at all. Death, eternal death. My meditation
on him shall be sweet. And so pause, ponder, ponder
Jordan and the Saviour and the response from his Father in heaven. What a very clear evidence there
was that this was in accordance with almighty God's will and
purpose for his son and for his people as that example. And so
we have it today what a blessing it is and we can be a true follower
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And indeed we can be
if we know something of this great and glorious truth as we
may be able to meditate on him. Meditation of him shall be sweet. You see, if we've tasted a little,
just a little sweetness in what Christ has revealed to us, you
know that's all the evidence that we need to be a true follower
of a despised and crucified man. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
so he was baptised in Jordan, and then you see what happened.
He had to go into the wilderness, 40 days and 40 nights, be tempted
of the devil. An immediate testing, an immediate
hardship. And as you may be able to meditate
on these things, remember that they were all done so that you
and I might receive the great blessing of eternal life. The great blessing of eternal
life. May that always be before our eyes as we think and meditate
upon these great truths of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he
lived his life. He went about doing good, didn't
he? Did he live an easy life? Not
at all. No, he had a hard life, didn't
he? But what did he do? He pleased his father. He did
his father's will. And that's the great example
for us. And so as we think of this, we meditate upon his life
to think what he did. He didn't please himself. He
did the will of his father in everything. What did he possess? Nothing at all. Just his clothes. Just his clothes, that's all
he possessed. He possessed nothing in this
world. My friends, we have a wonderful
example, don't we? How did the Saviour sleep? What
did He do? He prayed to His Father. Did He have a comfortable bed
like we have? Generally not. My friends, He
did all this. He lived all this life and this
glorious prayer life. He did for you and me, on our
behalf. It was all part of that great
course that the Lord lived. in order to keep the law, the
holy law of God, and make it honourable. The law was right
and just. Nobody previously had been able
to keep the law. If they had, they would have
been worthy of entering into heaven themselves. But all had
fallen, all had sinned, all had come short. And so what a wonderful
truth it is to be able to observe this fact, the Lord Jesus Christ. He indeed lived that perfect
life, did his father's perfect will, never deviating, whatever
the cost. And so we see him spending his
life in doing good. Do we not come and say, what
a saviour? Oh, my friends, to be able to
say that from our heart, what a saviour, what he endured in
order to save my soul. My meditation, remember, it's
very personal religion, it always has been, it always will be.
It's your meditation and my meditation. It's not anybody else's. You
can't get to heaven on anybody else's religion. It's your religion
and my religion. My meditation on him shall be
sweet. And so the Lord Jesus then, he
came down to those last days of his life on earth. Disciples
didn't realise what was about to happen. We would think they
would. The Lord spoke to them very clearly
what would happen. Their understanding was blind
and they didn't appreciate what was going to happen. The Lord
Jesus then carried out that ordinance or remembrance of the Passover
in that upper room to those favoured disciples. And of course, very
sadly, Judas Iscariot was among them. And so we cannot believe
that all those who are partakers of the Lord's Supper are automatically
amongst those who are saved. We have that very sad example
by that great deceiver, Judas Iscariot. It's a great warning
to us all. But nonetheless, the Lord did
institute the Lord's Supper on that Passover night. He carried
out the Passover, and then he instituted the Lord's Supper.
And he showed to them, in those simple symbols of that bread
and wine, what he would endure, how his blood would be shed,
and how his body would be broken. And that was to be shown and
set forth so very shortly afterwards. And so the Lord graciously has
left us today this wonderful institution of the Lord's Supper. Why? Lest we forget. Strange, isn't it? True it is. We are so forgetful, even on
these great and glorious truths, but blessed be God if we are
able to meditate upon them. We're able to sit around this
table tonight, those of us who have been a follower of the Lord
and been baptised, to sit round and to rejoice in his goodness,
rejoice in his shed blood, rejoice in his broken body. My friends,
what a favour it is. The Lord instituted then this
supper of remembrance, lest we forget. And so the Lord, in having
done that, and of course we have the wonderful account in the
Gospel of John, that wonderful sermon from chapter 14, 15 and
16, when he preached that sermon to the disciples. And then of
course he spoke that glorious prayer to his father in that
17th chapter of John. My friends, meditate upon these
things. They're good for our souls, to encourage us, to strengthen
us, to think what the Lord did. on that Passover night or what
he endured and yet what a wonderful truth he sets before us in those
things which he spoke to his disciples and then prayed unto
his father and then he went out and he crossed over that stream
and went into Gethsemane's garden a place we've been to many times
but now was a very special occasion a very solemn occasion and we
see there the Lord Jesus Christ, suffering, being so greatly tempted. Yes, he sweat as it were, great
drops of blood falling to the ground. He prayed and said, Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not
my will, but thine be done. We can get some little idea,
can't we, of the immense weight of the sins of all his people,
bowing him down in Gethsemane's garden, and sweating as it were
great drops of blood, being in agony. Now then, my meditation
of him shall be sweet. If God leads us into Gethsemane,
it'll be a sweet time. a time of blessing to realise
that our great and glorious Saviour endured that, so that we might
possess the great and glorious gift of eternal life. And then
of course, he was captured, taken captive, yes, and brought before
the high priest into that judgment hall, and how he was condemned,
and how he was mocked, spit upon, beaten. Why? Fulfilling the plan of Almighty
God, bearing the punishment due to you and me. That's what will
make this very sweet, when we think of the Saviour, enduring
the punishment due to you and me. Those lashes upon his back
which brought forth blood, how painful it must have been. Remember,
he was so weak under all this agony and then he was condemned
to be crucified. Condemned because of what he'd
done? No. Condemned because of what you
and I have done. Remember, he bore the punishment
instead. He bore it. Your sins and my
sins, which deserved Eternal hell. He took them upon himself,
every sin, and carried them to the cross. What a burden. My meditation of him, Shelby
Swinton, of course, he died upon that cross at Calvary. Yes, what
suffering it must have been. And again, you may say, well,
why crucifixion? Simply because it was the most
painful death Therefore no one can say, well Christ got off
lightly. No, he endured the most painful
death. Our salvation was earned by the
most painful death. What a debt we owe, do we not?
What a debt you and I owe, do we not? To our great and glorious
Saviour. There was no good in ourselves,
nothing to merit esteem, but this gracious Lord Jesus Christ
gave his life that we might receive life. And therefore he died upon
Calvary's cross shedding his most precious blood. The hymn
writer says invaluable blood. Peter says precious blood. So
it was. Why was it so? Because it was
the only thing that would pay the price for our redemption. The currency necessary was not
monetary, it was the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. How willing was Jesus to die
that we, fellow sinners, might live. Yes, oh my friends, the
life they could not take away, how willing was Jesus to give. He gave his life. He gave up
the ghost. It is finished. He finished the
work that his father gave him to do. Rejoice in that truth. Meditate upon it. Christ did
not fail. You and I failed. The Saviour
did not fail. He completed the work, the whole
work, and was able to declare, it is finished. He gave up the
ghost and died. there was that resurrection.
Death could not hold him. He'd fulfilled the law of God,
but my friends, if he'd remained dead, there would have been no
rising again. There'd be no resurrection. But
as was prophesied on the third day, he rose from the dead, a
conqueror over sin, death, hell, and the grave. And my friends,
he's conquered sin, death, hell, and the grave, for you and me
on our behalf, if we come in that right way. And therefore,
as we meditate on these great truths, to thank God that we
have a risen Saviour. We have so much evidence in the
Word of God about Him rising from the dead, a risen Saviour. And then, of course, we see that
He then ascending up into glory. ascended up into glory, to take
his rightful place on the throne, on the Father's right hand, there
to intercede for us. Remember the Old Testament example
of the high priest interceding for the people. How did he intercede? How did he go into the holy place,
the holy of holies? Not without blood. He entered
in. That's how the high priest went
in, not without blood, to atone for the sins of the people. How
did the Lord Jesus Christ enter into that holy place of glory?
Not without blood. His own blood satisfied the demands
of the holy law. And there, my friends, today,
he's set to conquer a great and a glorious high priest for you
and me. so that we are able to come,
in our prayers, through Christ, our prayers ascend to the Father. Well, meditate upon such great
truths, my friends, it will be strengthening to our souls, and
I believe there will be a sweetness in it. Remember, my meditation of Him
shall be sweet, and then remember, He will come again, He will come
again, to receive us unto himself, and that great day of judgment,
the Lord will return. Now then, such thoughts to the
unbeliever are morbid. To the believer, they're real,
and they're precious, and they're glorious, because when that day
comes, time will be no more, and all the chosen family of
God will be forever with the Lord. to praise Him forever and
ever and ever. Now, is that not something to
meditate upon, and to bless God for, and to come into the realization
of this great truth, my meditation of Him shall be sweet. Well, the word goes on, I will
be glad in the Lord. And I'm sure as the spirit of
God makes himself sweet to our understanding, this will be so,
so true. We will be glad in the Lord. Amen.