Turn to Psalm 119, we will look,
Lord willing, verses 9-16. Now, the title of this message,
How Shall a Young Man Cleanse His Way? This is a message for
youth, without a doubt, When David wrote this, he was thinking
either as himself when he was a young man, or maybe thinking
of some young man, or just any young man who's interested in
the Lord, who's interested in salvation. And even though this is addressed
to the youth, a young man, the way of cleansing Change is
not with age. It's good for us too, us older
ones. I thought today, as I read over
this time and time again, in Christ, we are eternally young. You know, I'm a young man in
Christ. We are eternally young in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
now in this life, I have a body that's growing old, but not the
inner man, not that inner man. Listen to this, in 2 Corinthians
4.16, Paul said, For which cause we faint not, but though our
outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Day by day. Eternal youth. We have eternal youth. But David
in writing this is also writing from experience because he knows
how a young man, any man, can be cleansed from
all their sins. He knows how. Look over in Psalm
51. Go back in Psalm 51. In Psalm 51, listen to this. In
verse 7, "...Purge me with hyssop..." They would take hyssop and dip
it in the blood and sprinkle it on the... Remember they did
that on the doorpost? "...Purge me with hyssop, and
I shall be clean. Wash me..." And I shall be whiter
than snow. He knew this. David knew by experience
how the Lord could cleanse a young man. And that young man be saved and
be able to stand before God. He also knew this by experience
because he says in Psalm 119, 176, "...I have gone astray like
a lost sheep." He says, "...I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments." Every child of God, at one time or
another, to some degree, every one of them will go astray. After
the Lord has saved us, we go astray. In our heart, in our
mind, we get caught up with something. Something takes our attention.
And the next thing you know, here we are going after it headlong.
I know, I know this from experience. Being in business, I know what
it is. And He says, Here, seek thy servant,
bring me back. Bring me back with my heart.
When my heart goes after something other than Christ, when it goes
after something more than Christ, let me put it that way. When
my heart goes after something more than Christ, Lord, seek
me and bring me back. Bring me back. Put my focus back
on You. For I do not forget Thy commandments,
Thy Word. Now here's the question. Wherewith, and that word wherewith
means how, why, and when. I can make an outline just on
that. How he's clean, why, and when.
But he says, wherewith or how shall a young man cleanse his
way? I'm glad he didn't say ways,
plural, because we would think, we would think if we quit doing
some things that we're clean, that we're okay. But he says
his way. You ever hear someone say this?
Well, that's the way he is. That's the way he or she is.
You know the way we are? Sin. That's the way we are. And how can we be cleansed from
our sin, our sinful way, our sinful self? How can we be cleansed? Now listen. The fact that a young
man, and this includes a young woman also, But I believe he
mentions a young man because a young man is far more prone,
I think, to just falling into sin and temptation than a woman
is. I think so. But this covers a young man or
a young woman, or any of us, really, any of us. But the fact
that a young man or woman needs cleansing suggests defilement. It suggests sinfulness. If I
need to be cleansed, I must be dirty, filthy, and to put it
in a spiritual sense, guilty. Guilty. Every person born into
this world is born in sin and shaping in iniquity. Not one
of us, not one of us, and not one person who's ever lived on
this earth has become a sinner at a certain age. We don't become
sinners at a certain age. We are born that way. In fact,
we are conceived in sin. Our conception, it's not a sinful
act. Between a husband and a wife,
it's not a sinful act. But the seed itself is corrupt.
It's a corrupt seed. It's a sinful seed. From that
seed comes a corrupt nature. Every person. No one's exempt.
All come into this world speaking lies, don't we? We all come into
this world going our own way. We've all gone our own way. That's
what it says in Isaiah 53. Proverbs 21 too. Every way of
a man is right in his own eyes. Don't you think that's so? Well,
I'm right. I know I'm right. That's the way we come up from
a child. We think we're right all the
time. All the time. We think our way
is the right way, and everybody else needs to get in line. But it says, but the Lord ponders
the heart. He knows the heart. He knows
what's going on. But why does he direct this to
a young man? Well, first of all, because with youth come strong
passions at all levels. At all levels. Youth lacks experience and wisdom. Youth is more likely to stumble
when tempted, more likely and more easily led astray than an
old believer. You know, an old believer has
a little more experience, and they know to stay or to shun
every appearance of evil, to kind of step back. But a youth
will fall headlong. That's just so. I thought about
the hippie movement back in the 60s, mostly made up of youth. I mean,
it's sad, that's for our leaders today, is what was back in the
60s, but it was still made up mostly of youth, wasn't it? All this free love and all this,
all the drugs and all, it was mostly made up of youth. Led
astray. And I think this is why college
is so dangerous. I do, I think it is. It's easy
to get into the minds of youth. You know, Johnny is, when we
play golf, he says, I'm going to get in your head. And I always
tell him, I say, there's no room in my head. I say, there's no
room in here for you to get in. You see, there's some experience
here. You know, you can double dog
dare me. And I'm like, yeah, right. But when you're young,
you're like, OK. You know, I'll do it. But when
you're older, you say, I'm not going to do that. You can say
whatever you want. Call me whatever you want. It
doesn't matter. But with youth, there's a lot
of room in the head to get into. You can get into the head of
youth. You can get into the mind of youth. And everything a young
man sees around him has a tendency to gratify some sinful passion
in him. It does. You know, the sinful
passions of this flesh are strongest in youth. They are. You see, there was a time I was
young, believe it or not. There was a time I was young
and I know what, and now I'm not. Now I'm not. I'm getting to the place where
you can call me an old man. And I tell you what, I would
not go back to be young again either. I wouldn't do it. I like, I do, I can say this
with, Full confidence, I like where I'm at. I like where I'm
at. Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither
by thy help I've come. I'm happy right where I am. I
would not go back. It's a dangerous time. You know, the world on every
side encourages the indulgence of sin. and youth is more likely
to fall into it. Most advertisement in our age,
you know this, is geared toward youth. It's geared toward the
youth. Now, how shall a young man cleanse
his way? That's a good question. That's
a good question. You know, by the grace of God,
by the grace of God, when I was a young man, God called me by
His grace and I was interested in this question. I became very
interested in how I could stand before God, how God could save
me, how He could forgive me. I thank God He put that in my
heart when I was a young man. And He gives us the answer. You
see, we are not left to ourselves to figure out the answer. We
have the answer. We have the answer in the Word
of God. In fact, we have the answer to every possible question
in the Word of God. We have the answer. Now, we must understand that
the written Word, He says here, "...by taking heed according
to thy word." But we must understand that the written Word of God,
by itself, does not cleanse us from our sins. But the written
Word of God directs us and in the hands of the Holy Spirit
reveals to us the living Word, the living Word of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. In John 1.1, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. In verse 14, And the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the Word of God, is the one who cleanses us from all sins. We are cleansed by the Word.
The Living Word, Christ the Word. And let me tell you something,
and I've told you this before, you cannot separate the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Word of God, from the written Word of God.
The Living Word and the written Word are one. They're one. So when he talks here about cleansing
of the Word, he's speaking of Christ, the Gospel. Christ is
the Gospel, the Gospel is Christ. And it's through Him that a young
man's way is cleansed. It is through the blood and righteousness
of Christ, the Word of God, being made flesh, the doing and dying
of the Word of God for us that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Apart from His Word, we wouldn't
know this, would we? You see how they go together?
You cannot know Jesus Christ apart from the Word, the written
Word of God. You can't know Him. You can't
go out in the forest and wander around in the trees and come
up with Christ. You can't do it. This is where He's revealed Himself,
in His Word. In His Word. Listen to 1 Peter. Chapter 1
verse 24-25, For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of
man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falleth away. Now we wouldn't know that except
by the Word of God. But the Word of the Lord endureth forever.
Now listen, And this is the Word, this is the Word of the Lord,
which by the gospel is preached unto you. It's by the Gospel. Now it's through the preaching
of the Gospel that we learn who God is, who Christ is, who we
are, and our need of Christ, our need of cleansing, and how
we are cleansed through His blood. There's a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. We learn this through the Word
of God, through the preaching of the Gospel. of Christ. We learned this. Now a young
man who has been washed in the blood, cleansed from all his
sins, he needs direction. I need direction. You need direction?
Listen. David said this in Psalm 119,
105, "'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.'"
Every time you and I come here, hear the Gospel, God has given
us light. He's given us light. But you
know who that light is? It's Christ. It's Christ. Our Lord is our cleansing. He's our direction. Look over
in John 14. John chapter 14. Our Lord said in verse 4, And
whither I go you know in the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, how can we know the way? Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man comes unto the Father
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father
also. And from henceforth ye know him, and ye have seen him.
And Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth
us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long a time with you,
and yet thou hast not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. And sayest thou then, Show us
the Father? Our Lord, He's our direction,
He's our cleansing, He's our all in all. Everything I need
I have in Christ. I have in Him. I need direction. I need to be washed. You remember
when the Lord washed the disciples' feet? And Peter said, you're not going
to wash my feet. And the Lord said, well, if I don't wash your
feet, you'll have no part with me. And he said, well, then wash
me all over. And the Lord said, well, he that's
clean don't need to be washed all over, just his feet, because
he walks through this world. He walks through this world. So we need, listen, the young
man, he needs to constantly apply to Christ the Word for cleansing. We constantly apply to Him. Lord,
forgive me. Lord, cleanse me from my sins. We walk in a dirty world, don't
we? We walk in an evil world. And sometimes our minds need
washed, don't they? Our minds need, sometimes we
start thinking wrong. And I tell you what, in the power,
in the hands of the Holy Spirit, he takes the gospel and he corrects
us. I want to say he washes our mind
and gets us on the right path, thinking right again, because
we can't get off. Listen, the cleansing effect
of God's Word is found in that it continually directs us to
the Lord Jesus Christ, the cleansing fountain. That's the reason I
wanted to sing that song. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from, and I like that statement, Emmanuel's veins,
not just a man, not just a good man, Emmanuel's veins. That goes right along with Acts
20.28. that God purchased the church with His own blood, drawn
from His veins. You see, we go to Christ for
cleansing, not do's and don'ts. In Zechariah 13.1 it says, In
that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. There's a fountain open for us
for sin and uncleanness. Now this cleansing has to do
with a young man's way. His way. You see, before salvation,
everyone has gone their own way, everyone has their own way. But
after salvation, after the Lord has saved us, Christ is our way. He's our way of salvation, He's
our way of faith, He's our way of grace, He's the way of righteousness,
He's our way. He's our way. How shall a young man cleanse
his way? We don't walk our way no more, do we? We don't walk
our way. We walk His way. His way. And then in verse 10, we see
the heart of the young man whose heart has been cleansed. He says
here in verse 10, With my whole heart have I sought thee. You
know, when we seek the Lord for cleansing, it's like that leper,
for example. That leper, when the Lord came
down off the mountain, That leper said, Lord, if you will, you
can cleanse me, you can make me clean. He didn't just say
that just to see if he would. He didn't say that, said, you
know, you might be able to cleanse me. No, he said, Lord, if you
will, if you will. He laid himself completely before
the Lord. And he believed with all his
heart. And he sought the Lord right there with all his heart
for cleansing. And he says, With my whole heart have I sought thee. Listen, where there's cleansing,
there's heart worship. Where there's real cleansing,
there's real heart worship. There's real seeking the Lord,
where there's real cleansing. And every young man, every man
taught of God, every man and woman taught of God, you know
this. You know this. And so everyone
who's taught of God knows this. With my whole heart have I sought
thee, O let me not wonder from thy commandments. It's like the song we sing, prone
to wonder, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love,
Lord keep me from doing that. Keep me from wandering from Your
commandments." This is why Paul told Timothy
not to get caught up in genealogies and fables. Because you'll wander
from His commandments, you'll wander from His Word. That's
what he's talking about. You'll wander from His Word,
you'll stray from His Word. And he says, Lord, don't let
me stray from Your Word. Don't let me do that. And what we have in verse 11
goes a long way in keeping us from going astray. You see, we ask the Lord to keep
us from going astray from His commandments. But now here's
something for you and I to do to keep us from doing that. You
know, we don't just pray. You know, we don't pray for these
things and then just get up and go about our way. Those who sincerely
pray like this also put forth the effort that it takes not
to go from His commandments. So listen, listen. In verse 11,
Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against
Thee. Thy word have I hid in my heart. The young man has not
only heard and read it, but embraced it in his affection. He walks
by it, He lives by it, He breathes and He eats the Word of God. That's how you feed on Christ.
You know, when you study the Scriptures, you study the Scriptures
to feed on Christ. I don't study the Scriptures
and you don't either, to argue with somebody or to prove a point.
That's pointless. Because, you know, if you convince
a fool, he's still a fool, he's just a convinced fool. That's all He is. He hasn't changed
a thing. But here, "...Thy Word," He says,
"...keep me from wandering from Thy commandments." And then He
says, "...Thy Word have I hid in my heart." He's embraced it. He loves it. He reads the Word of God. Don't
ask God to keep you from straying from His commandments and you
never read it. Straying from His Word, you never read it.
You know, some never show up to even hear it. Once in a great
while they'll show up, but they don't really show up to hear
the Word. And here's the reason that I've
studied Your Word, I've hid it in my heart, I've embraced it,
that I might not sin against Thee. No believer wants to sin against
God. That's grievous to us, isn't it? You don't want to sin against
God. You know, the Word of God working
effectually in the heart is a powerful, powerful antidote against sin. I tell you, I can't tell you
anything more powerful than when the Holy Spirit takes the Word
of God, when you study it and applies it, and uses it to direct
you and enlighten you. Listen to 1 Thessalonians 2.13,
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because
when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you
received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the
word of God, which effectually effectually worketh also in you
that believe." When you sit under the preaching of the gospel,
that Word works effectually in you. When you leave here and
you've been instructed in the light of the gospel, in the light
of Christ, when you go home, that Word is still working. That
Word is working effectually. How many times have you gone
throughout the week and the Scripture comes to your mind about something
that clears something up or directs you, gives you some kind of direction?
That's the Word of God working in you effectually. What about
when you go through the week and you think upon Christ? You
actually think upon the Lord. That's the Word of God working
in you effectually. And he says here in verse 12,
"...Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes." You know,
the Lord is blessed in Himself as His person, in His nature,
in His perfection. He's the fountain of all joy
and happiness to the believer. He is. He really is. And because
He's so blessed, and because He's so great and so glorious,
we apply to Him to teach us. Be my teacher tonight. If the
Lord is not your teacher tonight, you won't remember what has been
said here. You won't be instructed. You'll
forget it by the time you get home. Something else will take
its place. But if He's our teacher, if He's
our teacher, our knowledge... We will grow in grace and in
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it'll show up in every area
of our life. Our way. Our way. You know, the man or woman who's
being cleansed of the Lord saved by the grace of God, desires
to know more and more of Him. Paul said, oh, that I might know
Him. And I don't think anyone has ever lived on this earth
that knew the Lord any better than Paul. Paul said, oh, that
I might know Him in the power of His resurrection, fellowship
of His sufferings, to know more of His mind, to know more of
the will of God, to know it, To know it. You know, it just
astounds me that one so great as God, so glorious as God, the one who
not only created us, but the one who redeemed us and saved
us. It astounds me that I don't want to know Him more than I
do. Or that we would be obsessed
with knowing the Lord. Because you know, in just a little
while, we're going to meet Him. In a very short while, we are
going to meet Him. I think of that probably every
day. I never thought like that when
I was a young man. I never thought like that. I mean, the Lord saved
me as a young man, and I believed the Gospel. But I never really
had that thought or feeling that it could be imminent, that it
could be right now. I told someone here not long
ago, I said, I'm at the dying age. Three school years and 10. I'm getting there. I'm getting
there. If you look at statistics, that's
still about 70, 72, I think, is the overall statistic age
of the human race. We're getting there. And I tell
you what, it makes me More and more, I want to preach
Christ. More and more, I want to preach
Him more powerfully, more clearly, because in just a little while,
I'm going to see Him. And I won't do this no more.
I won't do this no more. But until then, until then, I
want to do what he says in verse 13, "...with my lips have I declared
all the judgments of thy mouth." Paul said, I have not shunned
to declare the whole counsel of God. There are some men, there
are some men who call themselves preachers, who stand in the pulpit. And they'll tell you in private,
they believe in the doctrine of election, that the Bible teaches
it. But they're not going to preach it from the pulpit because
the congregation won't have it. What's that matter? What does
that matter? With my lips, you know, out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, have I declared
all the judgments of thy mouth, not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ. Not ashamed. It doesn't matter, you know,
if when God pronounced judgment on this world, He drowned this
whole world. I'm not ashamed to pronounce
that. My God did that. God did that. You know, nowadays
we live in a day where, well, I want to give you an example. One lady who buried her son,
her pastor said, the devil did that. That's what he told her. The devil did it. God wouldn't
do that. God did that. God Almighty did that. We do not back up on declaring
God's judgments, especially His judgment at Calvary. God's judgment fell on His Son
at Calvary. Justice fell on Jesus Christ
in full measure, in absolute full measure. It fell on Jesus
Christ. He drank, as someone said, the
cup of damnation dry. And I thank God He did. And I'm
not ashamed to declare it. And those for whom He drank damnation
dry for shall be saved. Every last one of them. Evidently, I know these people
are dead in trespasses and sins, but they don't think either.
They don't think. Would God put His Son through
hell? Would He put His Son under such
torment and under the absolute unmitigated wrath of God and
then leave the result to a bunch of God-hating rebels? I mean, I'm not the brightest
bulb on the lot, on the porch, but I ain't that stupid. And
God is infinite wisdom. He's not gonna do that. Brother,
in all reality, that would be infinite stupidity, to do that
to your son and then leave the end results to the enemy. We
were enemies in our minds by wicked works. I thank God Almighty that one
day I believe that Jesus Christ died under the wrath of God for
me. And I'm going to be saved. And everyone for whom he died
is going to be saved. And that's a multitude of sinners nobody
can number. And if he had not done that, we'd all go to hell
just like the fallen angels. There wouldn't be hope for anybody.
Not one of them ever asked for mercy, and they never will, because
they don't want it. They don't want it. With my lips have I declared
all the judgments of thy mouth. You know, David had them in his
heart, the Word of God, the truth, And he wasn't ashamed to make
him known to others. We have the Psalms. He wrote
them down. He wrote them down. In verse
14, I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as
in all riches. The way which the Scriptures
that testify of God and Christ speak, we rejoice in the Scripture. I rejoice in the Word of God,
don't you? Because this Word reveals the Word. This Word reveals
how this center can be cleansed. This Word reveals my redemption,
my salvation, my righteousness, my acceptance. I rejoice in God's
Word, His testimonies. I rejoice in them. He says here,
"...as much as in all riches, or as above all riches." The
joy that believers have in God, in God's Word, it far exceeds
that which any material blessing we can have in this life. Give
me Christ, give me His Word, and let me live in a shack, if
that's what it takes. I'd rather be poor and have Christ
than be rich and perish. I'm telling you, I'd rather,
by the grace of God, be laying at the rich man's gate like Lazarus
than to be the rich man who owned the gate. Because right now, that rich
man is still in hell, and Lazarus is in glory. Lazarus' time on
this earth was hard, it was difficult, but it was very short. That rich
man's time on this earth was very wealthy, he just lived sumptuously,
and it was very short too. But now, it's timeless. It's forever for both of them
where they are. Then he says in verse 15, I will meditate in thy precepts
and have respect unto thy ways." What do you and I really meditate
upon? What we think about most? We have a mind, you know, and
you can't stop thinking. You ever try to do that? You
ever try not to have a thought? I have laid in bed at night,
been awake, and trying to go to sleep, and I can't go to sleep,
and I'm thinking, and I'm thinking, and I'm thinking I'm going to
try not to think, and I can't stop thinking about not thinking.
It's stupid, but it's so. Try not to have a thought when
you go to bed at night. Just lay there and just try not to have
a thought. It's impossible. It's impossible. But it is possible
to think upon Him. It is possible to direct your
thoughts upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in Philippians
4.8, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things. Set your mind, your affection
on things above. Lay there at night and think
upon the Lord. Think upon His person. Think upon what you have
in Him. Think of your future that you
have in Him. All you have to do is go over
to the end of Revelation and you can read your future. Think about
it. Listen, I will meditate in thy
precepts and have respect unto thy ways. This word here, respect,
means this, look intently, look intently into the Word of God,
look intently into it, to learn, to learn of Him. Take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. It means this, it means to regard
with favor, care, and pleasure. I have respect unto thy ways. The ways of providence, the ways
of grace, mercy, God's ways, not ours. And last of all, I
will delight myself in thy statutes, I will not forget thy word. You
know, delight, he says here in verse 16, is the fruit of verse
15, meditate. Delight is the fruit of meditation
on the Word of God upon Christ. If you meditate upon the Word,
you're meditating upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not meditating
upon the Ten Commandments. You're not meditating upon do's
and don'ts. You're meditating upon Christ when you meditate
upon His Word, because in His Word He's revealed. And delight
is the fruit of meditation. And He says here, I will not
forget thy word." Well, if you meditate upon it and it's hidden
in your heart, you're not going to forget, are you? David so studied the Word of
God that it was committed to his memory. He meditated upon
it, he mused over it, thought about it, And I know this, to
meditate on God's Word is nothing short than feeding upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this is how we don't forget.
We study the Word. When you go home, open the Bible,
open the Word of God every day and read it. And ask the Lord
to open the Scriptures to you. Study it. Meditate on them. Meditate
on the Word of God. He says in Psalm 119, 24, thy
testimonies, thy word also are my delight and my counselors. My counselors. Taught of God. Taught of God. How shall a young
man cleanse his way? by taking heed according to God's
word. And God's word always, always,
always leads to the Lord Jesus Christ, the living word. All
right.