Man has been made a little lower
than the angels. Yet he's been given a privilege
that the angels cannot know. And that, as we sang there, the
chorus that will renown unto the glory of God throughout the
ages is that one which will be most loudly sung by the redeemed as we see him. who died for us. Psalm 119, you know, quite often I think of how useless the preachers of the gospel are. We can't change the hearts of
men. We can't cause men to be desirous of praising God. But yet the Lord would show us
in the weakness of our flesh how that his hand is not shortened,
say, by many or by few. Because he does not need men
in any way, but he's pleased to use men. And that's a glorious
thing. And you know every time that
a preacher stands up to preach, if he's a true preacher of the
gospel, he does so by the grace of God. And he does so without any power
of his own. but there is power that accompanies
the Word of God when the Spirit of God is pleased to move upon
it and so we desire today you know as we look at these things
and we you know in in many ways uh... we just say the same things
over and over I mean, what else can we say? I mean, the message
of the gospel is a pretty simple message. It's not complex. And men don't gain a greater
understanding of it by the more that they learn. But they gain
understanding as the Spirit of God moves upon their heart and
opens their heart to receive it. And, you know, I don't know
a bit more on the one hand, about the Bible and the things that
are in it, than the first day I ever opened it up and looked
at it. But yet, at the same time, the Lord has given me an understanding
of who the one is that this book is about. And you know, when
once a man comes to that place, by the grace of God, to understand
who this book is about, then he has received the greatest
blessing in all the world. Because you can study the Bible.
There's me and I went for a little while and I got over it as quick
as I could. But I went to the University
of Florida for a short period of time. And I had a class, and
it was a comparative, not comparative religion, but it was some religious
class anyway. I thought that might be interesting.
I took the class. And the old professor that was
in there, he knew a lot about the Bible. I mean, he could,
you know, he knew all about it. But he didn't know who the Bible
was about. And so, you know, you can know about the Bible,
but what we hope and desire and desire to impart as best we can
through the Spirit of God to that who this book is about,
not what you might know about the book, but who it is. And of course, we know that The
Lord inspired men to write this book, we believe that, that holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God. There's
not a word in this book that is not according to the will
and purpose of Almighty God, that is not given to men. Men
didn't think this up. Now you can't convince a man
of that if he's determined not to believe it. But see, when
once the Lord has taught a man that this is the Word of God,
he can't lay it down. He can't depart from it. I mean,
if he believes this is the Word of God, it's a lamp unto his
feet and a light unto his path. It's that which is precious to
him. And I can't explain how that
occurs. I know that one time in my life
I didn't care any more about what was in the Bible than I
was raised to study the Bible as a young lad going to Sunday
school and all those things and they used to have a little card
that you'd fill out and one of the things you could check off
there was if you got your daily Bible reading. Well, I wanted
to fill out the cards, so every night before I'd go to bed, I'd
throw the Bible open and read me a verse out of the Bible,
and then I could say I had got daily Bible reading, you know,
and I thought that was something. But I didn't care anything about
what I read, really. But something happened to me. I don't know what, I can't explain
it. One day, it's as if this book became precious to me. and not the book. I've had a
bunch of books. You know, these books, they wear
out. And this is not the Word of God,
but the Word of God is here. And as the Lord is pleased to
give a man eyes to see and ears to hear, it becomes precious
to him. And more precious as time goes
on because as you look around you and you see the failing of
society, the destruction of that which men have held on to as
their culture. Now culture can be a good thing
and it can be a bad thing. And we've had a culture in this
country that for many years was shaped by the things that are
found in this book. Now, I'm not of the dreamy notion
that the United States is or ever has been a Christian nation. There's no such thing as a Christian
nation. There are nations which are made
up predominantly of people perhaps who express a belief in Christ. But that doesn't make the nation
Christian. And the Lord as a people in every
kindred, tribe, and tongue. We are members of a nation, but
it's a holy nation. It's a nation set apart. It's
a nation that is not of flesh and blood. It's a nation that
cannot be entered into by flesh and blood. But it is a kingdom
and a nation of which the Lord has made us willing and glad
citizens. And so as we come to the Word
of God today, And we're reminded that the Lord is the one who
speaks these words. Whether we believe it or not,
that doesn't change anything. You know, you sometimes hear
somebody say, well, the Lord said it, I believe it, and that
settles it. But that's too much. See, that's
too much. It doesn't make any difference
whether you believe it or not. The Lord said it and that settles
it. See, it doesn't make any difference whether you believe
it or not. And so we need to understand that. And I'm thankful
that it's that way because if it was up to me, I find myself
in unbelief many times. I see the things of God and unbelief
always lurks in the back of my mind. Just like it does in every
man born of Adam, there is a seed of unbelief that continually
gnaws at him. And when he becomes a child of
God, the gnawing gets even stronger. And it would, except for the
grace of God, we would be overcome by it, but he is able to keep
us from falling, dear brethren, even as Peter. Now think about
old Peter. The Lord said, Peter, I've prayed
for you that your faith fail not. And of course, the faith
of Peter didn't fail because Christ didn't fail. When you
understand that Christ is our faith, our faith's not what we
work up or what we think or what we say we believe, but our faith
is Christ. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. See, that's the place of
our faith. That's our hope. Our hope is
Christ. We're not hoping in this or that
or the other and hoping something will come to pass, but we're
hoping in Christ. He's our hope. And so we read
here, The words of Christ, I believe, the prayers of Christ in this
119th Psalm. And we come to verse 145, this
section of the Psalm is the letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Kaf. I'm hoping I'm pronouncing that
correctly. Maybe I am, maybe not. Some of
you Hebrew scholars can correct me. But he says, I cried with
my whole heart. Hear me, O Lord, I will keep
thy statutes. I cried unto thee, save me and
I shall keep thy testimonies. I prevented the dawning of the
morning and cried, I hoped in thy word. Mine eyes prevent the
night watches that I might meditate in thy word. Hear my voice according
unto thy loving kindness, O Lord. Quicken me according to thy judgment. They draw nigh that follow after
mischief. They are far from thy law. Thou art near, O Lord, and all
thy commandments are truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I
have known of old that thou hast founded them forever. Resh, consider
mine affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget thy law,
plead my cause and deliver me, quicken me according to thy word. Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they seek not thy statutes. Great are thy tender mercies,
O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgments. Many are my
persecutors and mine enemies, yet do I not decline from thy
testimonies. I beheld the transgressors and
was grieved because they kept not thy word. Consider how I
love thy precepts. Quicken me, O Lord, according
to thy lovingkindness. Thy word is true from the beginning,
and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. Now what a glorious passage of
scripture that is. I cried unto the Lord with my
whole heart, hear me, I will keep thy statutes. The Lord,
as we have spoken so many times throughout our study through
this particular psalm, these are the prayers of Christ. And
he cries unto the Lord as a man. just like any man, with his whole
heart, not just on the side, not partially, but with his whole
heart. His whole being was consumed
with that. He said, I cried unto thee, save
me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. That's the only way that a man
will, is if the Lord removes him from the ways of men. Because
the ways of men will pervert us. And the Lord's speaking as
a man, not as a man prone to sin, but as a man bearing our
sin. Now, it's hard for us to really
grasp that. But everything, every trouble,
every trial that went through, that goes through the minds of
men, the Lord has faced those things. And he prayed for us. He prayed not for the world,
he said, but for those whom thou hast given me. So he cried unto
the Lord, Save me, and I shall keep my testimonies. If the Lord
doesn't keep us, how are we going to keep the testimonies of God?
I mean, how are they going to be precious to us unless He does?
I prevented, that is, I preceded the dawning of the morning. I
rose before day. And we read in the scripture
that the Lord did often rise a great while before day and
pray. Sometimes the scripture says
he continued all the night in prayer, apart in a secret place,
in that place which is hidden from the eyes of men. That's
why the scripture often speaks about the closet, praying in
the closet. because we have to get away from
all the things that are around us in order to commune with the
Lord. That's a sweet time of fellowship
when we can get alone with the Lord. And sometimes that's a
difficult thing. You know, especially when you
have a growing family and that sort of thing, it's a difficult
thing, but it is a needful thing for the sons of God to find moments
of time. I remember listening to Leonard
Ravenhill talk about his grandmother and how that she would, of course,
in her elderly days, she couldn't really get up and get around
very good, but she always used to wear an apron. And he said
he could remember that there'd be a certain time of the day
when she would throw that ape. She'd be sitting in her chair
and she'd just throw that apron up over her head. And she'd begin
to sing, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep
silence before him. She went apart to pray. Dear
brethren, may the Lord give us grace to do so. My eyes prevent
the night watches that I might meditate in thy word, he said,
night and day. I meditate in your word, they're
precious to me. Hear my voice according to thy
loving kindness, O Lord. Quicken me according to thy judgment.
That word quicken. is also the word that's used
in the scriptures as revive, revive me. Now the old preacher
said, you can't revive something that hadn't been revived in the
first place. And you know, it is, we do constantly
desire the Lord might revive us, quicken us, because we grow
cold, do we not? From time to time, I mean, we're
just like an ember that's in the fire, and it cools off after
a while. But if you blow upon it, it'll
start to glow again. And that's what we desire from
the Lord, is that he might cause our, the embers of the fires
that he's placed within us to burn brightly. They draw an eye
that follow after mischief. They are far from the law. And
we're surrounded, are we not, with those that follow after
mischief, that don't have any regard to the way of God. I mean,
it's unfortunate, but we're surrounded on every hand by people that
don't really care about the way of God at all. I mean, that thought
never crosses their mind. Thou art near, O Lord, and all
thy commandments are truth, not part of them, but all of them.
You know, we often find ourselves picking out certain passages
of Scripture and cleaving to them and kind of ignoring some
others that get a little too close to home, you know. Maybe
they remind us of some sin we don't want to deal with in our
mind and heart. but all of the commandments of
the Lord are truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I
have known of old that thou hast founded them forever. Now, if
anyone should doubt that these are the testimonies and the prayers
of Christ, let them read that passage of Scripture and think
of what it's saying there. He said, concerning thy testimonies,
I have known of old that thou hast founded them forever. How did he know that of old?
Because he is of old, is he not? He's the ancient of days. He's
that one who oversaw the creation of the world,
that created all things by his hand, of old. The testimonies
of God are precious unto him. And then we have Resh. Consider
my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget thy law. Plead my cause and deliver me,
quicken me according to thy word. I'm glad that the Lord did not
forget the law of the Lord, because I have often forgot it in my
haste to go through my life and do the things that I would set
out to do. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin, and he
never forgot the law of God. It was always written upon his
heart. Because of old, he knew those
testimonies to be true. Plead my cause and deliver me. There's that word again, quicken
me, revive me according to thy word. Now, if the Lord himself
as a perfect man needed to pray as a man for the quickening and
reviving work of the Lord. How much more do we? I mean,
he whose life itself is praying that the Lord would give him
life, that he would quicken him according to his word. Salvation
is far from the wicked. And why is that? Now we know
that the Lord has ordained some unto destruction
if the Word of God means what it means and says what it says
and I believe it does both and there are some ordained unto
destruction but what is the moving cause as far as they are concerned
for why they do not seek the Word of God that they do not
walk in the way of God because they won't seek it they do not
he said here They seek not thy statutes. They're not concerned
with the law of God. They're not going after the law
of God. They don't desire the law of God. And so consequently,
those that don't desire the law of God will perish. While at
the same time, those who by the grace of God are moved to desire
the word of God, they shall live. That's just according to the
way and purpose of Almighty God. And what is man? I mean, what
can we say to these things? There's nothing we can boast
of in having received these things, nor is there any way that we
can stand in judgment against those that is in a personal way
for not following after the Lord. Greater thy tender mercies, O
God, O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgments. The mercies
of God are indeed tender mercies. How often do we read that in
the scripture, the tender mercies of God? Not just that God showed
mercy. No, he said to Noah, to Noah,
to Moses, he said, I'll show mercy to whom I will show mercy.
But now what he was speaking of there was the judgmental mercy
of God. That is, he appointed that mercy. But you see, the mercy of God
is more than just I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.
He will show tender mercies unto his people. He shows mercies
in a tender fashion. He calls men. He draws men. He loves men. His mercy is new
every morning, Jeremiah said, lest we should be consumed. Oh,
the mercies of God, the tender mercies of God. And when a man
perishes, he perishes in spite of the tender mercies of God.
Oh, what a glorious Savior he is. Oh, quicken me. according to thy judgments. Lord,
let thy judgments, thy justice. Brother Al spoke about the justice
that the Lord had set forth. And you know, that is the basis
upon which our hope is built, is it not? The justice of God.
I mean, what if God was not just? Then if Christ died for our sin,
then He might do anything, might He? He might cast us away. But
you see, we know because Christ is both just and the justifier
of them which believe in Jesus that we stand upon that just
will of God, the just character of God. His justice is that upon
which we stand. Quicken me according to thy justice. Many are my persecutors and mine
enemies, yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. I'm not
turned aside, he said, even though men would seek to turn me aside. And how often it is that the
world would turn us aside. I mean, you know, society, is
a powerful force in trying to guide men and shape men. You
know, at a young, even from a young age, it's the tendency of men to want
to conform to what everybody else is doing. Well, everybody
else is doing it. I mean, every kid is saying,
Dad, every kid is brought to that place. to think because
society would cause us to want to follow it in so many things. You know, I think about this,
the rage nowadays with tattoos. We were talking about that earlier.
And it used to be that if a man got a tattoo, he was doing it
because he was a rebel. You know, he had a big tattoo
on his arm because he didn't conform to society and all that.
But now, Everything's turned right around and people are,
you know, getting these things because everybody else is doing
it. And so, and it's just, it's almost overwhelming to see some
of the stupidity that people get into in places that they
put these things on their face and all sorts of stuff. I mean,
you know, what a mess. But that's the way society is.
I beheld the transgressors and was grieved because they kept
not thy word. Now I want us to think about
that for a minute. I beheld the transgressors and was grieved.
Now why was he grieved? He was grieved because they kept
not thy word. Now, it wasn't that he looked
at them and said, well, you're gonna deserve what you get or
something like that. But he thought of the glory of
God. See, when men disobey the word
of God, it's an affront unto God. And they are disrespecting
God. And so the concern that we have
when men break the law of God is that they disrespect God. I mean, that was what the passion
that burned in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ when he overthrew
the money changers' tables in the temple. It wasn't that they
were selling these offerings and stuff like that, but it was
that they had no respect unto the Lord. who had him to build
this place of worship unto him. You see, he was overwhelmed with
that. Brethren, may that be, as we go through society and
we look at the things around us, it's not just to be overwhelmed
about these things, but from a moral standpoint. I mean, that's,
we are, you know, as we see things going on. But those things that
are an affront unto God, they're disrespectful unto God. When
someone uses the name of the Lord, he said, thou shalt not
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. That is to use it
without due consideration. How often do we hear people throughout
the course of the day using the name of the Lord as an expletive
and as an expression? Why do we react against that? Because we believe that they
disrespect the name of our Lord. And so he says here, because
they kept not thy word, I was grieved. I was grieved because
they disrespected you. Consider how I love thy precepts. Quicken me, O Lord, according
to thy lovingkindness. Oh, thankfully, the Lord has
loved the precepts of God. And he has imputed his righteousness
unto us. And when we are Considered in
the courts of heaven, we're considered as those who keep and love the
law of God, because he did. In our behalf, what a glorious
thing. Thy word is true from the beginning,
and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. Thy word is true from the beginning.
Now, there are many in the world today and science supposedly,
falsely so-called, tells us how the world was created. And millions
of years ago, you know, all this stuff, there was a big bang and
all these things just kind of fell into place and some little
amoeba crawled out of the pond and became a bug and then this
turned into that and all this stuff. But the scripture says,
thy word is true from the beginning. Now what does the scripture say?
In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. What a glorious thing. We're
not in doubt about that. The world doesn't care about
that. And science and the supposed scientists would lead men. Now, you know, if we've ever
wondered about the folly of science, I believe we can see it in these
days with this pestilence that's come upon the earth. Supposedly in the name of science,
they disregard science. They will look at the things
that they want to look at. And I'm not going to get into
all that because it's immaterial, really. But science men think
that they've got all these answers. In reality, they have none. But
they would like for us to think so. But the Lord's word is true
from the beginning, and every one of his righteous judgments
endureth forever. Enduring, that is never passing
away. Always true. And in spite of
what happens to us, we believe the word of God to be true. You
know, There are many people that spend a lot of time trying to
prove the Bible is the Word of God. And I've profited from reading
some of the things I've read that some of them did. But brethren,
the reality is that you cannot prove to somebody that the Bible
is true. You can prove to the man that
believes the Bible's true that the Bible's true. And you know,
you can reinforce his conviction that the Bible's true, but you
can't make him believe that the Bible's true. Doesn't make a
difference how many things you may do or say or whatever. But
when the Lord gives a man understanding of that, it's imprinted in him.
And how do we, how is it that we believe that God created the
earth? By faith. Is it not by faith
we believe that the things which we now see were created out of
things that did not appear? I mean, that's how it is. And how did we come to that place?
Faith is the gift of God, not of words, lest any man should
boast. Oh, that the Lord might give
us that faith today, and that He might continually quicken
it in us, revive it, keep it burning. heart day by day.