Let us turn to God's Word and
turning to that portion that we read in the book of Psalms.
And I want tonight to direct your attention for a little while
to the opening verse of the 112th Psalm. Psalm 112, verse 1. Praise ye the Lord, lest it is
the man that feareth the Lord that delighteth greatly in his
commandments." Psalm 112 and verse 1. We read this psalm and
the preceding psalm, and these two psalms of 111 and 112 certainly
are connected. They form a pair. you'll observe how that the same
number of verses are found in each of the psalms, ten verses
in each psalm and interestingly not only do they have the same
number of verses but each of the psalms is written in the
way of an acrostic poem In other words, the verses begin
with the same letter. Each psalm opens with the Hebrew
words, Alleluia, translated as, Praise ye the Lord. And then
that first verse in each of the psalms begins with the opening
letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter Ale. And then the
second verse in each of the Psalms begins with the Greek letter, which we would know as a G, and
so on through the Psalm. They are clearly, closely related
and associated one with the other. And so we can see that there
is a connection between the end of the 111th Psalm and the beginning
of the 112th Psalm. The last verse of Psalm 111,
Fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom. The good understanding
of all they that do his commandments, his praise endureth forever.
Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. In each
of these verses we see a very clear reference to a particular
individual who has that fear of God in his heart. This is that man who is the blessed
man. the same man that's spoken of,
of course, in the opening verse of Psalm 1, the psalm that we
just sang in the metrical version. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is
in the Lord of the Lords, and in his Lord doth he meditate
day And tonight, the whole book of Psalms, of course, begins
with that wonderful description of this man who we find appearing
time and again, and we have him spoken of here at the end of
Psalm 111 and this opening verse in Psalm 112. What a contrast
between this character and the ungodly. There in the first psalm
we're told the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which
the winds drive us away. In another psalm, in Psalm 36,
we're told concerning that ungodly man there is no fear of God before
his eyes. There is no fear of God before
the eyes of the ungodly. But here, In the words of our
text, praise you the Lord, blessed is the man that feareth the Lord,
that delighteth greatly in his commandments. And so let us consider
something of the blessedness of the man who has this fear
in his heart. First of all, we see that to
this individual belongs the promises of God. He has the promises of
God for his portion. Does this God fear? Interestingly,
it's not simply the man that feareth that we read of in Psalm
112, but later in the Psalm verses 7 and 8 we see that he shall
not be afraid. He shall not be afraid of evil
tidings. His heart is fixed, it says,
trusting in the Lord. His heart is established. He
shall not be afraid until he see his desire upon his enemies. The man that feareth. The man
that feareth the Lord. There is nothing that can really
make him to be afraid. We have it twice there in verses
7 and 8. He shall not be afraid. Why? His heart is fixed. How is his
heart fixed? He is trusting. He has faith
in the Lord his God. It is, of course, as we know,
God only who is the proper object of fear. Doesn't the Lord Jesus
Christ remind us of that fact in the Gospel in Luke chapter
12? And there, in verses 4 and 5, we find the Lord Jesus addressing
these words to the people. I say unto you, my friends, be
not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have
no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom
ye shall fear. Fear Him, which after he hath
killed hath power to cast him to hell. Yea, I say unto you,
fear him." Who is this that has power, that has authority? It
is God that he is speaking of. And it is God alone that we should
fear. And if we fear God, we really
need be afraid of nothing else. or to have then his blessing
of the fear of God in our hearts. What is this fear? Well, it's
not a tormenting fear. There is such a thing as a fear
that brings torment. There is a fear that's the possession
even of the devils. They fear God. Remember the language
of James in that epistle? In James chapter 2 and verse
19, he says to some, they'll believe us there is one God,
they'll do us well. The devils also believe and tremble. Well, the devils have faith.
There's truth in the saying that there is no unbelief in hell. All those who go to that dreadful
place, they know that God is. The devils believe in God. and
all who are associated with Him in that place, they know that
God is, and yet they are eternally cut off from God, the only source
of true happiness to man, and that man was made to know God,
and was made to enjoy God. He was created in God's image,
made after God's likeness, to have communion with His God,
and there they are, cut off, no unbelief. in how the devils
believe and how we see it in the ministry of the Lord Jesus
when Christ begins his ministry there in the opening chapter
of Mark's Gospel we see him in the synagogue in Capernaum and
he puts forth his power we see the Lord as he is pleased to
heal a man to cast out the demons In Mark 1.23, there was in their
synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying,
Let us alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked
him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when
the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice,
he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch
that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What
new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth
he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. It's interesting,
is it not, how the miracles cause them to recognize the authority
of his preaching, his teaching. Now that's the point and purpose,
of course, of the miraculous ministry. It's subservience to
the Word of God. What new doctrine, what new teaching
is this they say? As Christ is preaching, the miracle
authenticates the Lord as that One who has been sent by God
and as I say, the devils recognise Him. They recognise Him. We know them, who they are. Jesus of Nazareth, I don't come
to destroy us before the time. So the devils know something
of that fear of God. But it is a fear that only brings
with it torment. And this is not the fear of the
man that we're reading of in our text tonight. This is that
man who knows God, who loves God, who loves the Word of God,
delights in the promises of God, embraces the precepts of God,
or he delights greatly in his commandments. And John tells
us there is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out
fear. What does this man have then?
He has the fear of God, but it's not that tormenting fear that
is the possession of devils known by those who suffer the torments
of hell. This fear is filial fear. like as a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities them that fear Him. He knoweth our frame,
He remembereth that we are dust. Oh, that's the fear, feeling,
to know that God is our Father and He will deal with us in His
gracious, fatherly fashion. He knows our frame, He remembers
what we are, He is the One who has made us, He understands us.
He will not permit His children ever to be tempted above what
they are able. With the temptation He makes
a way of escape whereby they shall be able to bear it. This
is a God that we have to do with. And this fearial fear, I say,
it is one of the promises of God. It's one of the promises
of the New Covenant. as we see in the 32nd chapter
of the book of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah speaks of God's promise
in the covenant. What does he say in chapter 32
of Jeremiah verses 39 and 40? I will give them one heart and
one way that they may fear Me forever for the good of them
and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good, but I will put My fear in their hearts that they
shall not depart from Me." Here is the promise, you see. Here
is the promise of the covenant. God says he will put his fear
in the hearts of his children. All these God-fearers, what a
blessing it is. They have the promise of God. They are the recipients of that
new covenant. And of course here in the text
we have the language of the covenant. because the God that He has spoken
of is referred to under the name of Lord. Praise ye the Lord. As I say, the Hebrew word is
simply Hallelujah and the Yah is but the abbreviation of the
name Jehovah. That is the God of the Covenant,
the Great I Am, the Unchanging One. and who is the blessed man,
he is the man that feareth that Lord. He even fears Jehovah himself. What do these God-fearers learn?
Why they learn redemption. They are those who are blessed
with the salvation of God. Look at the previous verse there
at the end of the 111st Psalm. There, in verse 9, we're told
He sent redemption unto His people. He hath commanded His covenant
forever. Holy and reverend is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. A good understanding of all they
that do His commandments, His praise endureth forever. He sends redemption to His people. For these are the people whom
ye have redeemed. The ransom price has been paid.
They are those who in and of themselves in their natural condition
were debtors to the Lord of God. Why, they were the transgressors.
They had broken the commandments and not walked in the path of
obedience. But the price has been paid.
That dreadful price that the holy law of God demanded, even
the shedding of blood, the pouring out of the life, this is redemption. He sends redemption unto his
people. For the Lord Jesus is that one
who has come and paid that great price. He has ransomed his people. from all the terrors and all
the curse of that law that they had broken. What a favoured people
they are, these God-fearers. Because that salvation has been
brought into their souls. He sends redemption onto his
people. He comes where they are. He visits
them. He blesses them. This is what
these God-fearers know, even the teaching of God. Again, what
are we told concerning the covenant of God? It is written in the
Prophets that they shall be all taught of God. Every man that
hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me, says the
Lord Jesus Christ. There in verse 45 of John chapter
6 and the Lord is referring to words that we find in Isaiah
54. They shall be all taught of God. Isn't this the language
of the covenant? He has commanded His covenant
forever. All they are taught of God. They
know God. Here is the man then, the man
that feareth the Lord. He is that man who knows something
of the salvation that God has provided for sinners in the person
and work of His only begotten Son. the words of the Lord Jesus
when he comes to the end of his ministry familiar words there
in the 17th of John as he is about to complete his covenanted
work he must be obedient unto death even the death of the cross
and remember what he says to the Father I have just finished
the work I am glorified on the earth he
says I finished the work that Thou gavest me to do." What does
he say? For this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. To know the One who was sent
by God, the One who has come and finished the work of God,
it is life eternal to know this One. to have a knowledge of God
as he has revealed himself in Christ. The fear of the Lord,
says the wise man in the opening chapter of the book of Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge. What is the beginning of knowledge?
This knowledge of God, to know God. to know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." What do we read in the psalm? We read of that fear that is the beginning of
wisdom. Here at the beginning of verse 10 in the 111th psalm,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Is it not a parallel
statement with what we have there in the opening chapter of the
book of Proverbs? In Proverbs 1 and verse 7, the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, the beginning of
knowledge, the beginning of wisdom. Why it's one and the same thing. They know God. These God-fearers,
how blessed they are, they know God in the covenant. They received
the great promise of the covenant. Fear of God has been implanted
in their hearts. All they know, and this fear
of course, is so connected with faith in God. Look at what we
read later in the 115th Psalm, verse 11, Ye that fear the Lord,
trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Why those who are fearing the
Lord, they are the same ones whose trust is in the Lord. This
is truly filial fear. It's not a fear that torments,
a fear that would drive God away from a man, like the demons there
in the opening chapter of Mark want the Lord to depart from
them. What have we to do with them? No, this is a very different
fear to that. It's a fear that will embrace
God. to fear that's associated with
trust. For this blessed man, blessed
is the man that feareth the Lord. Again, we have the same character
spoken of, do we not, in verse 4 of Psalm 14. Blessed is the
man that maketh the Lord his trust. The man who fears God the same
man who is also trusting in God. Now, that man that we read of
in the 40th Psalm is a man very much burdened by his sins. He
is a man who is brought to cry out to God as he feels the awful
burden of his sin. How desperate is his situation. The opening words of that 40th
Psalm, I waited patiently for the Lord, says David, and he
inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out
of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet
upon a rock, and established my goings. He was in the miry
clay, he was sinking, he was completely and utterly undone. But there we see him as the man
who is also trusting in the Lord his God. Verse 4, the man that
maketh the Lord his trust. Now, the interesting thing is,
of course, with regards to Psalm 40, and that is the fact that
it is clearly a messianic psalm. It's a psalm that's speaking
very much of Christ. The sixth sacrifice and offering,
though it's not Isaiah, Mine ears, as thou open burnt offering
and sin offering, as thou not required, then said I, Lo, I
come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight
to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. All of whom is the psalmist speaking
here clearly is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we need
not doubt that for a moment because those words are taken by the
Apostle Paul when he writes to the Hebrews In Hebrews chapter
10 at verse 5 following, he quotes that portion that we just read
and makes it plain that it has its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Psalm 40 is a Messianic Psalm.
And there we have the man who knows the Lord, who fears the
Lord, who is the Lord that he knows and fears. Why? It's the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It's the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
All these God-fearers, they know Christ, they acknowledge Him,
they confess Him. Again, so many Psalms we could
make reference to, but the language of the Psalmist in the 145th
Psalm in verse 19, he says, concerning God, He will fulfill the desire
of them that fear Him. He will fulfill the desire of
them that fear Him. He also will hear their cry and
save them. The assurance of God will always
answer the cry of those who are true fearers of Him. They cannot
cry in vain, but their desire will be fulfilled. Such is the
promise of God. or the man that's spoken of then
here as the blessed man, the man that feareth the Lord. What
does he possess? He possesses the promises. He
has an interest in the promises of God. And all those promises
in the Lord Jesus Christ are, Yea, and in Him there all are
men, not a yay, nay gospel that we have in Christ it's a gospel
that says yay and amen to sinners and the man has these promises
there is possession but he's blessed not only because he is
in possession of the promises but he also has a delight in
the precepts he delights in the precepts of God That's quite
clear, is it not? That's the language of the text.
Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly
in his commandments. For this man, you see, he loves
the wholeness of the Word of God. He's not partial in the
Word of God. He doesn't want to take one part
and reject another part. He wants to embrace all of it.
Now the Lord rebuked the children of Israel when he saw that they
were partial in his law. It's a stern word that he speaks
against that partiality in the book of the prophet, in Malachi
chapter 2. In verse 9 God says, Therefore
have I also made you contemptible and bathed before all the people,
according as ye have not kept my ways but have been partial
in the law. Or they were those, you see,
and he's speaking in particular here to the priests, but instead of embracing all
of God's law, they wanted some, they rejected others. We're not
to be partial in God's law. were to be those who would submit
to the totality of Scripture from Genesis right through to
Revelation. We recognize that this is the
Word of God. All Scripture, all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. And He's profitable, says Paul,
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect. throughly
furnished unto every good work. Oh, we need all of it. If we're
going to be those who are true Christians, mature men and women,
no partiality. We see here, you see, that the
fear of God is really a great restraint to sin. Oh, if we do but fear the commandment
of God, A commandment that in its transgression brings a terrible
penalty. You know the language of the
wise man in the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 16 and verse 6 he
says, By the fear of the Lord, men depart from here. Or would
we walk contrary to the ways of sin? Would we walk in the
way of God's commandment? We need to know something of
that fear of the Lord. in our hearts. It restrains a
man. Again, in Proverbs 3 and verse
7, it says, Fear the Lord and depart from evil. These two things
come together. If we fear God, we will shun
the way of sin, the way of disobedience. That's what God's fear does to
a man. It makes him tender in his conscience. But the fear
of God is not only a restraint to sin. It's such a wholesome
thing, this failure of fear. The fear of God is also, in the
believer, a constraint to doing good. It doesn't just restrain
us from the path of wickedness, but it encourages us, it constrains
us in that good path, that path of obedience, that path of righteousness. The end of the book of the preacher,
the end of Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and
verse 3, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God
and keep His commandments. This is the whole duty of man,
says Solomon. And it's not Solomon's word,
of course, it's really God's word. Solomon writing those words
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The conclusion of
all that he has had to say in that wisdom literature, the conclusion
of the whole matter, fear God and keep his commandments. For
this is the whole duty of man, the man that feareth the Lord,
that delighteth greatly in his commandments. When we read that
word in Ecclesiastes 12, does it not remind us of the language
of the Shorter Catechism? What is the chief end of man?
There Solomon speaks of the whole duty of man, fearing God, keeping
his commandments. You know the answer to that first
question, that well-known question in the Catechism, man's chief
end. is to glorify God and to enjoy
Him forever. How do we glorify God? We glorify
God when we seek to walk in obedience to all His commandments. When
we delight in His holy precincts. Look at the language of the text.
Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments." What do
we learn here? Well, devotion is clearly the
delight of this man. He praises the Lord. He wants
to worship his God. He delights in that. But not only is devotion his
delight, holiness is also that that makes this man happy. Because
of course the basic meaning of the word blessed is really happy. And it is a plural, it's happinesses. All the happinesses of this man.
What a blessed life it is that this man is living. He has the
precepts of God. These are they that govern the
manner of his living, that instruct him with regards to his conduct. In that first general epistle
of John, the Apostle says, For this is the love of God, that
we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.
Or with the God-fearer, there's nothing grievous about God's
commandment. Why this man delights in the
precept of God as much as he delights in the promise of God.
They're both lovely to him. Because both in the promise and
in the precept he sees his God. In each he has a revelation of
God. He's discovering something more
of the character of his God. And so he must love the precept. just as he loves the promise
of God. Again, the language of the wise
man in the book of Proverbs. He says, Proverbs 23, 17, Be
thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. All the day long. We're not just
to fear God when we're in company with our fellow believers. We're
not just to fear God when we come to the place of public worship. That fear of God is to be with
us continually, to be with you as you go about your daily business,
as you're found in the place of occupation, as you're pursuing
your career. In all that we do, from day to
day, moment by moment, we're to be those who are in the fear
of the Lord. which will be those who desire
to practice real godliness. This man you see, this blessed
man, he delights us greatly, it seems, in God's commandment. He doesn't just delight in the
commandment of God. No, it's more than that. It's
great delight that he has in God's commandment. Now we see
it when we come to the New Testament, in the epistles of the Apostle
Paul, Time and again, of course, as we read through the epistles,
we come to the end of the epistles, and there we have the practical part. Having set before
us most sublime doctrines, having spoken much of the glories of
the Lord Jesus Christ, then the Apostle Paul, his usual practice,
as you know, having given instruction with regards to doctrinal matters
setting before the people great theological truths in the earlier
part of the epistles and then the practical outworking. That man feared the Lord and
he saw then the importance of the precepts of God, the precepts
of the gospel. or this man that has God's fear,
that true filial fear, that fear that belongs to those who are
in the covenant. The man is such as has the promises
of God, loves the promises of God, but also has the precepts
and delights in the precepts. But then also, in the third place,
with regards to this man and the way in which he's blessed,
and as I said, the word blessed is a plural, so it shouldn't
surprise us that there are a number of aspects to the blessings that
he possesses and the things that make him happy. This man knows
something of the praise of God. He knows something of the praise
of God. And that's how the psalm begins, is it not? Praise ye
the Lord. As we said, and it's probably
indicated in the margin of your Bible, the Hebrew word, thus
rendered, is that single word, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. All to praise the Lord. Now,
we turn back to another Psalm, in the 33rd Psalm, Psalm 33 and verse 8, that all the earth fear the Lord,
that all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. In this sentence, this 8th verse
of Psalm 33 is a single sentence, according to the punctuation,
made up of two clauses. And here we have a wonderful
example of that peculiarity of Hebrew poetry, which is parallelism,
where you have the same truth expressed in a sentence, but
it's expressed in a different way. So, the fear of the Lord
in the first clause answers to being in awe of Him in the second
clause. You see, it's the same truth
in each part of the verse. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. Or to be those who would stand
in awe of God. That is the only way we can worship
God acceptably, is it not? To be those who most circumspect
when it comes to the worship of God you know the language
again of the wise man in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter
5 keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God be more ready
to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not
that they do evil be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine
heart be hasty to utter anything before God for God is in heaven
and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be That's to be
in awe of God. We don't rush foolishly. We don't dare come presumptuously
into His presence. If we're going to worship Him
acceptably, if we've got this fear of the Lord in our heart,
we'll stand in awe. We'll feel something of His holy
presence. We'll know something of that
worship of the angels. How the prophet Isaiah, when
he received his commission, when he was called to be a prophet,
as he tells us there in that sixth chapter of the book of
Isaiah, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord
sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled
the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings, with twain he covered his face, and
with twain he covered his feet, And with twain he did fly, and
one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried. And the house was filled with smoke. What an awesome vision
it was that was granted to the prophet in that solemn year.
The king had died, and he seized the throne of God, which is never
vacated. But He speaks of those Seraphim,
the burning ones, those holy angels, those elect angels. They never sinned and yet, bore
their before God's throne and they have six wings. And with
two wings they are covering their feet. And with two wings they
are covering their faces. And with two wings they are flying.
This is how the angels worship God. And yet, though these be holy
creatures, what are they before God? What are they in the presence
of that uncreated holiness? In Job 4 and verse 18, his angels
were told, He charged with father. His angels, he charged with father. Yea, says Job, the heavens are
not clean in his sight. or such is the God that we have
to do with the God that we worship. And yet we're to worship Him,
we're to praise Him, because this is the mark of those who
are true God-fearers, they want to praise this God. Praise ye
the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments. See how these Psalms, Psalm 111,
112, 113, they all begin with that word, Hallelujah. Back in the 111th Psalm, we see
how that God is the one who is to be praised for all his works. Verse 2 of Psalm 111, the works
of the Lord are great. sought out of all them that have
pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious,
and His righteousness endures forever. He hath made His wonderful
works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. All we are to praise God because
of His works, His great works of creation, His faithful works
of providence. that all those gracious works
of salvation. This God is to be praised. We
are to be a praising people, friends. We are to praise Him
for all His great works. In the 119th Psalm, David says,
Thou art good, and Thou doest good. Where do we see the goodness
of God? We see God's goodness in the
works of God. He is a good God. and He is a
God who is worthy of our praises. We are to praise Him for His
works. We are to praise Him. We are
to praise Him in His sovereignty. Isn't that a very solemn word
that we have in the book of the Revelation? There in chapter
19 of Revelation. Revelation 19 and verse 5, John
says, And a voice came out of the throne,
saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and all ye that
fear him, both small and great. Here are the God-fearers, the
praisers of God. And John says, And I heard, as
it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying,
Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reign."
All we do is praise God in His sovereignty, and that sovereignty,
of course, is an absolute sovereignty. Let God be God. Surely that is to be the language
of our hearts. Let God be God. We sang in our opening prize
that hymn of William Gadsby's, and doubtless as we sang it,
it must have struck you. How solemn are the words, particularly
there in the second verse, such is omnipotence. and such is justice
too, a world he drowns at once except a very few he sends his
millions down to hell and yet is just and holy still all to
praise God in his works even those solemn works of judgment
God is to be praised and these who are the true fearers of God
they do praise him they bow before his absolute sovereignty. The language of their worship
is let God be God. And they know then that God will
only do that that is right and just, too wise to be mistaken,
too good to be unkind. And so, in another of the Psalms,
Psalm 119 again and verse 78 we read, they that fear the will
be glad. Oh, if we're those who are true
fearers of God, we'll be a glad people. They that fear Thee will
be glad. Blessed is the man. Blessed is
the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His
commandments. Are we not told again in the
Psalms that the fear of the Lord is with them that fear Him? He will show them His covenant. O God, be pleased to reveal that
blessed covenant to us, to grant us this precious gift of fear
in our hearts, to know that we have an interest in those exceeding
right and precious promises, to be those who are delivered
from any partiality and would embrace the totality of His worth,
and love His precepts as well as His promises. For to be those then who say
that it is ours to be praising God all our days, praise ye the
Lord. The Lord bless His words to us
for His name's sake. And the tune is Saxby 4-line.