Psalm 119. And this, as we mentioned, each one
of these sections of this Psalm corresponds to one of the letters
of the Hebrew alphabet. And this one is he, I think it's
actually he in the Hebrew, but we'll call it he since that's
the way we would say it. Teach me, O Lord, the way of
thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding,
and I shall keep thy law. Yea, I shall observe it with
my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of
thy commandments, for therein do I delight. Incline mine heart
unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine
eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way. Establish thy word unto thy servant,
who is devoted to thy fear. Turn away my reproach, which
I fear, for thy judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after
thy precepts, quicken me in thy righteousness. Then we have vow. Let thy mercies come unto me,
O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. So shall I have
wherewith to answer him that reproaches me, for I trust in
thy word. And take not the word of truth
utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in thy judgments.
So shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever. And I will
walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy
testimonies also before kings and will not be ashamed. And
I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up
unto thy commandments, which I have loved, and will meditate
in thy statutes. Now we cannot emphasize enough
that this psalm is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is the prayers of Christ. It is that which he longed for
as a man walking in the world, as he would be our substitute,
but not only our substitute, but our example. uh... was set forth before us uh... what a godly man is if you want
to know what a godly man is uh... then look at jesus christ you
know don't look around you and see somebody because every man
on the face of the earth will ultimately do something that
will disappoint you the best one that you've ever known will
not live up to the standard of perfection that we find in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we read here of the Lord speaking about the
statutes of God, the law of God, we recognize that he was that
one who was the giver of the law, but he was also the one
who was the keeper of the law. He was the one who demanded that
men perform the law, and he is that one who came along and did
perform the law perfectly to show men these things. Now I've
jotted down here, I don't usually write notes out, but I put these
things here because I wanted to point out something that came
to my mind as I was reading this passage of scripture. There are
actually, let's see here, seven words relating to the law and
the commandments of God that are repeated in both sections
of this, in this first section that we read and the second section.
And they are the word statutes, law, commandments, testimonies,
judgments, precepts, and thy word. Now you'll find those in
both sections of this. And I thought that was interesting
uh... from the standpoint of the fact
that all of these words uh... in some ways that they're related
in some ways they're actually speaking of the same thing but
there are different manners in which they do uh... speak of
that but nonetheless uh... the desire of the Lord Jesus
Christ as he walked among men was to keep these things that
is not just to obey them but to keep them See, a lot of people
think that keeping the law and obeying the law in its letter
are the same thing, but they're not. Keeping the law means that
one puts it in the heart, that desires it, that keeps it close.
A man can obey the law. You know, you can obey the speed
limit, But you can not necessarily love the speed limit. You know,
there's a difference. And the Lord sets limits upon
men and the earth. And he also gives some men a
love for those limits. And of course, by nature, none
of us love those limits. We want to be turned loose to
do what we want. I mean, just like children, they
don't want the limitations of their parents upon them. They want to do what they want
to do. They don't want somebody telling them what to do. I never
did when I was a kid. You know, I always wanted to
do what I wanted to do. And my mama, thankfully, They
had a different idea about that. And you know, she didn't let
me do exactly what I wanted to do. And so thankfully, the Lord
does restrain men. You know, I'm thankful every
day for the restraint of God upon men. Just think what the
world would be. I mean, think about it. You know,
we look at the world And we see the wickedness of men in the
world, but now you've got to understand that we live actually
in an age when the restraint of God is in some great measure
heavily upon the world at the present time. Because when you
look back, if you read over history, I mean, just look at the Bible
and look at these pagan people and heathen lands and whatnot
and the stuff that went on and openly and that the Lord sent
the Israelites into these lands to kill them all. Now, the world is a violent place
and we would all consume one another pretty quickly. You know,
when you read history and whatnot, and you often hear these people
talking about the native peoples of this country, you know, how
they were all just peace-loving folks, you know, trying to get
along with one another, and the old white man came in and he
just disrupted all that. But no, these people were killing
each other right and left. Same way in all the nations of
the earth. I'm not saying that the white
men were doing the same thing. I mean, you know, and that's
the way we would be if it wasn't that God in his mercies restrained
us. So we do live in an age which
is restrained by God. Now, you listen to the philosophers
and the supposed wise people of the world and they say we
do this because men are more enlightened. No, men are not
more enlightened. Men are always just like they've
always been. And if the Lord sees fit to remove
his hand from us, then we'll be right back to the same old
stuff. I mean, you can see smatterings of it right now. I mean, and
we're not that far, really, from imploding. You know, as a nation,
I mean, I see it on the horizon. I don't see how we can avoid,
apart from the mercy of God, I don't see how we can avoid
just ultimately destroying one another. I don't see how it can
be. I mean, it's just, it's happening
all around us. And it will continue to happen.
But just remember that any peace and happiness and joy that there
is in the earth comes as a direct result of God restraining men
from their natural tendencies. And we'll, hopefully, we won't
see that unloosed, but I'm afraid we might. And so he says, teach me, O Lord,
the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end.
The statutes of God. Now, that's a little different
than the commandments of God. Now, the speed limit is a commandment
from the government. But property rights are statutes
that are set up, and there's a difference. The statutes, they're
set there to control things. And of course, we know the speed
limit is too, but you see, the speed limit, if you break that,
There's a penalty attached to that pretty heavily, and you
can go to jail if you do it enough times. Now, of course, if you
disregard the statutes and illegally do things in matters of property, you could
do the same thing, but it's a little bit different. But he says here,
teach me, oh Lord, the way of thy statutes, not just The commandments,
now when he comes down here in verse 35, it says, make me to
go in the path of thy commandments. When he says, give me understanding
and I shall keep thy law, the word law there is Torah. That
is the Ten Commandments. There is a law which God has
given. Has the Ten Commandments ever
been repealed? Not to my knowledge. They've
been fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ, He manifested
the fulfillment of that law. He perfectly kept that law for
our sake, else we would perish. He is our substitute, our law
keeper, our performer. But He says, teach me the way
of thy statutes. Let me walk in the proper path.
and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding and
I shall keep thy law. Yea, I shall observe it with
my whole heart. Give me understanding. See, that's
what we need as men in the earth is understanding of the things
of God. It's not enough just to hear
it. I heard the Bible preached. I can't remember the first time
my mother took me to church and I heard the Bible preached. Now
it was not perfectly doctrinally as I might see it now but nonetheless
the Bible was preached and I did hear things from the Bible but
I had no understanding of them and didn't want any. You know
it would just come in one ear and out the other but the prayer
of God's people, the prayer of the Lord was that he might have
understanding, that he might know not just what the law is,
what the commandments of God are, but what they're for. Why did the Lord give us these
things? I shall observe it with my whole
heart. Make me to go in the path of
thy commandments, for therein do I delight. What a wondrous
thing, make me to go in that path. Blessed is the man who
walketh, what, not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor sitteth in
the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law
of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. You know, I would like to say
to you that I meditate in the law of the Lord day and night,
but I'd be telling you a story. But Christ did. He bound the
law upon his heart. It was a wondrous thing to him.
He did meditate in it day and night. But he set forth the example. And he gave us a heart if we
know him. If his spirit dwells in us, he
gave us a heart to desire that we might not walk in the counsel
of the ungodly. Why do we want to listen to the
ungodly men of this world? What can they tell us? You know,
what can the great philosophers and people that supposedly have
all this wisdom, what can they inform us of? I mean, they can't even tell
us the right things concerning the very basic concepts of what's
going on here in the world. How can they possibly teach us
how we ought to guide and direct our lives? Oh, the way of men
is contrary to the way of God. make me to go in the path of
thy commandments, that is, that place you've marked out, for
therein do I delight. Incline mine heart unto thy testimonies. Now here's another word that
we find in both sections here, the testimonies of God. What
is the testimony of God? It's that thing which he has
declared. How has he declared his testimony?
We read about it this morning. as the Lord dealt with his people. I mean when you read the Old
Testament you see the love of God for his elect people. Now
it's in type and foreshadow because those who walked in carnal flesh
considering themselves to be the children of Abraham and the
chosen people of God They had consideration of that, but the
Lord was showing in his dealings with Israel of his love for that
remnant which he loved from before the foundation of the earth,
which is a people out of every nation kindred and tongue on
the earth. And so the testimonies of God
are those manifestations of his mercy and kindness. unto men. He's testified, has he not? I
mean, he told the Israelites he would deliver them from under
Pharaoh's bondage. Now that was news to them, was
it not, because he put them in bondage for four hundred years. But he said, I'm going to bring
you out. And so when Moses came to them and he said, I'm gonna
bring you out, they said, yeah. Yeah, you gonna bring us out.
Yeah, we've been here for 400 years. But you see, the faithfulness
of God does not fail even when 400 years have passed and men
have stood in bondage. And many men died without any
consideration. But there was one who knew it,
Joseph. He said, when y'all leave, He
said, don't leave my bones here. He said, take them with you.
And they buried him in a coffin in Egypt, but they dug him up.
And they took him with them when they went to the promised land.
Because he desired to walk in the testimonies of God. And he
knew the testimony of God to be true. Incline my heart to
thy testimonies. Let me remember the things that
the Lord has done in the ages. But most of all, the greatest
testimony that the Lord has ever given unto men took place about
2,000 years ago. on Calvary's cross when the Lord
Jesus Christ suffered, bled, and died for sinners. Now there's
a testimony of God. He said that He would save His
people. When the Lord appeared to Joseph
in the dream, He sent the angel to tell Joseph, He said, Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins. There was no ifs, ands, or maybes
about that. He said, you're going to call
him Jesus because this is a name which is above every name. This
is a name that I have determined to exalt in the earth and in
the heavens forever. And he said, he is going to be
the deliverer of his people. He will save them. That's the
testimony of God. Greatest testimony that's ever
been. Oh, that I might be found rejoicing in that testimony,
even as incline my heart to that testimony and not to covetousness,
not to the things that rule us. You know, all men are covetous.
And you know, covetousness is not desiring what somebody else
has. Covetousness is desiring to keep
someone else from having it. See, you know, it's not wrong
to look at a man who's driving a brand new Cadillac and say,
man, I wish I had me a Cadillac. That's not covetousness. Covetousness
is when you look at the man driving the Cadillac and you say, I'm
sorry, Joker. He don't need that Cadillac. I need that Cadillac. He doesn't need to have it. See,
that's what covetousness is, and that's bound in the heart
of men. All men are that way. I mean, to some measure, you
might say, oh, well, I don't think like that. Yeah, you do.
Yeah, you do. all that the Lord might deliver
us from. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. Oh, how
many of us have beheld vanity? What is vanity? Solomon said
everything is vanity. Everything you can see in this
world is vanity. All the things in the world are
passing away, but we look at them and we think, man, this
is going to bring me lasting happiness. If I can just get
that, if I can just make, I used to think, man, if I could make,
you know, $500 a week, I would really be doing something. But
if I could just do it. Well, of course, with inflation
and everything, that doesn't look like much, does it now?
But see, nothing, it doesn't make any difference what men
have. It's never enough because it's
vain, it's empty. Deliver me from it. Don't even
let me behold it. See, that's where a problem starts
when we start beholding something. What happened with David when
he beheld Bathsheba? See, if David hadn't beheld Bathsheba,
none of that would occur. Now we know all of that was order
and the purpose of God. It did occur according to the
purpose of God. but nonetheless it began by him
beholding vanity. And quicken thou me in the way,
make me alive, don't let me live with the dead. And that's exactly
what we are when we adopt the ways of the world. Now in the
Grace Gazette this week, the kind of thing that triggered
me off there was a sign that I saw on the front of a truck
and it just I've not had anything in a long time. It just went
up and down my spine and caused me just almost to faint. I mean, it just came over me. So great what was written on
the sign. I'm not gonna tell you what it was. You're gonna
have to read the greatest gazette to find out. But that's vanity. All of these things are vanity.
They're empty. And we run in that way, why would
we want to listen to people that don't know anything? Because
it is vanity. Quicken me in the way, make me
live so that I might know and understand thy word. Establish
thy word unto thy servant who is devoted to thy fear. Turn
away my reproach which I fear, for thy judgments are good. Do
you fear the judgment of God? If you don't, you're a fool.
A man that doesn't fear the judgment of God is a fool. Now, there's
a lot of people that say, oh, when I stand before the Lord,
they think that's how it's gonna be. And I'll just tell him, Lord,
in fact, I've told you this before, but one of my neighbors, he was
about 80 years old, I said, Mr. Dalbo, what's your hope of entering
the kingdom of God? He said, well, I'm gonna tell
the Lord that I always tried to do the best I could. And I
thought to myself, you know, man never told himself a bigger
lie in the earth than if a man would look in the mirror and
say, I've always tried to do what was good. You've not always
tried to do what was good. Never a man lived that ever tried
to do. That's vanity, that's emptiness, that's foolishness. And that's to be without the
fear of God. To think that you're gonna stand
before the Lord and reason with him. He already knows. Well, the Lord looks on the heart.
You know, you ever heard people say that? Well, I know, you know,
the Lord's gone, He looks on my heart. He knows what's in
my heart. Yes, He knows what's in your heart. And if anything
ought to cause you to fear God and fear His judgment, it would
be knowing that the Lord does know what's in your heart. See,
He knows that you are dust. He knows exactly what you think. Turn away my reproaches, which
I fear for thy judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after
thy precepts, quicken me in thy righteousness. He longed for
the to walk in the precepts of God.
There's another one of those words that's in both of these
sections. Let thy mercies come also unto
me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. There's
another one, thy word. So shall I have wherewith to
answer him that reproaches me, for I trust in thy word. See,
when men, Peter, I believe it was Peter, said that sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts that you may have to answer every
man that asketh you, give to every man that asketh you a reason
of the hope that is within you. See, that's what we desire. Lord,
cause us to rest in thy word. Bind it
to our heart. So shall I have wherewith to
answer him that reproacheth me, for I trust in thy word. See,
we're not trusting in what somebody told us. I mean, when somebody
asks you what's the reason of the hopeless within you, don't
tell them what somebody told you. What is the reason of the
hopeless within you? Have you ever, I mean, do you
ever pause and consider what that is? Why? What is that thing
that gives you hope that you might stand in the presence of
Almighty God? And take not the word of truth
utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in thy judgments. Now he speaks about the judgments
of God in both of these sections. For thy judgments are good. He
said, I've hoped in thy judgments. Wow. You know, that's hard. A carnal man can't hope in the
judgments of God, if he knows anything at all about himself,
can he? But oh, the Lord Jesus Christ, see, he is our justifier. And it's because of his justice
that we do have hope. See, payment God cannot twice
demand, first at my bleeding surety's hand, and then, again,
at mine. And that, you see, dear brethren,
is what's built upon the judgment of God. And we rejoice in the
judgment of God. He's not some willy-nilly going
about things here, but He has a standard and a principle by
which He will judge men. And Jesus Christ has met that
standard. He is that standard. And it is
the judgment of God on Jesus Christ that we hope in. that he has satisfied the claims
of the law. So shall I keep the law continually
forever and ever, and I will walk at liberty for I seek thy
precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies
also before kings and will not be ashamed. See, when we consider
The faithfulness of God, it's impossible that we should be
ashamed. For the one who has called us will also do that which
he called us. We sang that song there a moment
ago, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Not
because I have committed it, But because I know he's faithful.
See, I know my commitment, if I was gonna depend on my commitment,
I'd give up tomorrow, because my commitment's not worth much.
But you see, Christ's commitment to us most certainly is, because
he is faithful. Our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. I hope it's Christ. I hope it's not, well, we tried
the new right, we did the best we could. No, it's Christ and
Him crucified. Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. And I will delight myself in
thy commandments, which I have loved. He did. My hands also will I lift up
under thy commandments, which I have loved. I will meditate
in thy statutes. So the law of God is that which
Jesus Christ came not to overturn as he was accused. He didn't
come to do away with the law, but he came to fulfill the law.
Why? Because he loved the law. He
wanted to do the law. See, you and I, by nature, we
don't want to do the law. Everything about the law is that
which is contrary to our natural way. Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.
I mean, by nature, we don't want to do either one of those things,
do we? Because we want to love ourself. We want to walk in the
way we want to walk. Oh, but the grace of God, the
mercy of God, and more importantly, the faithfulness of God, to do
those things that he said he would do. So his judgments, his
precepts, his commandments, his word, all of these things are
tied together. And it's impossible that a man
can love the commandments of God and not love his statutes,
not love his precepts, not love his testimony, not love his word,
or vice versa. Because all of these are that which God has sent forth. into the world. And he didn't
just say, you know, it's like the Sabbath and the Sabbath and
the Sabbath keepers. You know, it's amazing to me
as you look in the Gospels and you see many of the arguments
or not arguments, not the word I'm looking for, the conflicts
that the Lord had with the Pharisees was over the Sabbath. And the
Sabbath, the keeping of the Sabbath is a matter that carnal men have
taken and tried to make a carnal commandment with. But the Lord
never gave the Sabbath as a carnal commandment, but he gave it for
a purpose. And he said to the Pharisees,
as they said, well, why did you heal this man on the Sabbath
day? He said, God didn't make the Sabbath. He didn't make man
to fulfill the Sabbath. He made the Sabbath for the benefit
of men. So you see, the Lord has given
us his word for our benefit not as something to cause us to cringe. Now it does cause us to cringe. Why? Because we inherited something
from Adam. Sin. And the law reveals sin. And the purpose of the law is
to reveal sin. I had not known sin except the
law said thou shalt not do these things. So thanks be unto God
that he's given us his law, that we might know ourselves to be
sinners. And the good thing about when a man knows himself to be
a sinner is that he starts seeking someone that can help him. See,
sinners are the only people that'll seek the Lord. But sinners will seek the Lord.
Now there's a lot of people out there that they'll boast, they'll
tell you, I'm a sinner. Oh, I'm a great sinner. No, they're
not sinners. Oh, now, they've committed sin,
they're breaking the law, but you see, a sinner, as Joseph
Hart said, a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made
him so. Because you see, a man that knows
himself to be a sinner is a man that'll seek the Lord. And the
Lord said he'd save sinners. He's the savior of sinners. He'll
save sinners. those that tremble before His
judgments, that see His commandments and know themselves to have fallen
short of that keeping. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, but only those whom the Lord has
quickened see what that means and have an understanding of
it. Oh, that the Lord might give us such an understanding of His
precepts that we might rejoice in His testimonies of his goodness
and his faithfulness to save those that cannot save themselves.