Well last week, in this series
through Psalm 119, we were looking at verses 57 and 58. Thou art
my portion. The idea that God is the possession
of a sinful human being. That people such as we are, who,
compared with God who is holy and perfect, that we should be
able to have a relationship with the living God. Do you see the
immensity of that? Does that really strike you?
That we, thinking beings, sentient beings, can be in a relationship
with the living God, the God who is judge over all, who is
creator over all, who is the cause of all life, who is life,
in Him is life, and the light of life, and outside of Him is
no life. And so many miss it completely. Peter in his praying said, they're
asleep. They're asleep. Spiritually,
the majority of the world all around us is just in a coma as
far as the presence of God is concerned. And yet, as we've
just been singing, you know, those eyes that have been touched
with the reality of Christ, heaven above is softer blue, earth around
sweeter green. All of these things, it's just,
A wonderful awareness of the God who has made us and sustains
us, who is holy and just, and we cannot approach him because
we're sinful, but yet, as we sang in the first hymn, in the
gospel, is the way for sinful people to approach the living
God and find acceptance with him. And yet, as I say, the majority
have no awareness of God. They live their lives without
any sense of the being of God. They never question, what is
it that is me that is doing this thinking? What is this life about?
They never ever seem to question it. And it doesn't seem related
to human intelligence, because even highly intelligent people,
you know, the great high priest, as it were, of nature on the
television, David Attenborough, you know, very nice man, but
nevertheless, as intelligent as he is, and as much as his
physical eyes have seen the greatest wonders of the creation of God,
he has absolutely no awareness that there is such a being as
God. And by contrast to that, even a childlike spirit. Is that
not what Jesus said? That, you know, come to me like
children. You come to the kingdom of God
like a child, with a childlike belief in the living God. That's
not to mean it's simple as in unprofound. But nevertheless,
you come as a child to Him. A childlike spirit can see by
the revelation that comes from God alone, the reality of God
all around us. With eyes of God-given faith,
with eyes of God-given faith, look in the previous section
in Cheth, in verse 64, with eyes of God-given faith, the earth,
O Lord, is full of thy mercy. This is it. With eyes of God-given
faith, everything we look at is full of thy mercy. It was
that that caused me to ask for this hymn, Loved with Everlasting
Love, because heaven above is softer blue. With eyes of God-given
faith, heaven above is softer blue. Earth around is sweeter
green. Something lives in every hue
that Christless eyes have never seen. This is the experience
of the one who believes God. And it isn't just a matter of
personal choice, that some have chosen to go this way, and others,
for their own valid reasons, and we accept that, that's absolutely
fine, have decided not to pay any attention. No. This is about
life. True life. This is absolute.
This is objective. We're talking about true, abundant
life. Jesus said, I am come that they,
his people, might have life, and have it more abundantly.
Abundant life. True, abundant life. And not
only now in this life, but of course on, into eternity, into
its fullness. And this life is the gift of
God. It's not the wages that you earn,
it's the gift of God, because God is a God of grace. And it's
revealed by the Holy Spirit through his word, and nowhere else. It
really isn't. It's not revealed through extra-scriptural
revelations, or flashes that people seek. No, it's not. To
the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, there is no light or truth in them. You are blessed
if you have heard, as it says in Psalm 89, blessed is the one
who has heard the joyful sound. We have heard the joyful sound.
What joyful sound? Jesus saves. The Lord Jesus Christ
saves us from the consequences of our sin and rebellion against
God. Jesus saves. That's a joyful
sound. We've heard it. You are blessed
if you've heard that joyful sound. The joyful sound that God in
Christ has reconciled an innumerable multitude of sinners. every word,
an innumerable multitude of sinners, to himself. How has he done it?
By redeeming grace in his Son. For his Son, who is God, has
come and paid the penalty, the sin debt, that debt that we sung
about in the first hymn, that sin debt. He's paid it on behalf
of his people, so his people have no debt to pay. You know,
I take the view that there might be out there, either listening
live now or listening to the recording later, somebody that
has never heard this good news. But there is good news, that
the God who is so obviously the creator and sustainer of all
things, the one to whom we must give account, the one who gives
life, the one who is over all, has redeemed a people to himself
in the doing and dying of his beloved son. And having accomplished
redemption, redemption is a payment, having accomplished the payment
necessary. What was the payment? The payment
necessary to pay the sin debt, to pay the debt of sin, the debt
that we owe as sinners to the law and the justice of God, having
accomplished it by paying it with what? His precious blood.
It was the blood, not as of bulls and of goats, which were only
symbols, but the precious blood as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, the perfect Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb
of God that takes away the sins of all sorts in the world, His
people. He's accomplished redemption,
and He, having accomplished it, He reveals it to all that He
has saved by His Word, His Word preached. His word is by the
foolishness of preaching. It pleased God to save those
who believe. They hear it preached. This is
what he does. This is God's way. He sent prophets
in the Old Testament. He sent apostles. He sent evangelists
and pastors and teachers and preachers in New Testament times. He still does so. He sends his
people, his men, to preach, to proclaim the truth. of His salvation,
that He has saved a people, and He calls them, and that calling
is applied by the Spirit of God in irresistible grace. You know,
those that, if you're a believer now, you will say that there
was nobody Like me, who would not under
any circumstances believe this truth, but when God calls, when
God's Spirit calls, that call is an irresistible call. It is
irresistible grace. And those that are the objects
of the salvation of God, it's not a, oh I wonder if they will
accept me. God doesn't say that. God calls
with an irresistible call. He calls his people out of darkness
into his marvellous light to show the truth of the gospel
of grace in Christ, of peace with God, of reconciliation,
of a hope of heaven, a good hope of eternal glory. And this Psalm
119, with its 22 sections, the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, This salvation truth is a jewel
in one of the parables, Jesus calls it the pearl of greatest
price. You know, there are all sorts
of pearls, but then you find the pearl of greatest price,
and it's the one that is unrivaled in value. That's the gospel,
that's gospel truth, this jewel of gospel truth, this pearl of
gospel truth. Psalm 119 turns that jewel over. You know if you get a really
elaborate diamond, and you sort of turn it round, and the light
goes through it different ways, and catches different aspects
of the spectrum. Every time you pick it up and
turn it, you see something new. Well that's a bit what it's like
with this Psalm 119. It takes the jewel of redeeming
grace, and turns it over and over, to catch different perspectives
of the same truth. So let's turn this section over,
this section, Teth, verses 65 to 72, and ask first of all a
question that I know we've alluded to before, we've possibly even
asked and attempted to answer before. But whose words are these? Thou hast dealt well with thy
servant, O Lord, according to thy word. Whose words are these?
Well, undoubtedly, they're the words of David. King David, the
sweet psalmist of Israel, who lived 3,000 years ago, the shepherd
boy, taken from the sheepfold, looking after the sheep, protecting
the sheep, you know, rough, strong, ruddy, kind of healthy, really
fit, strong young boy, and he took him from there, and he made
him king over his people, his symbolical people, Israel. That
sweet psalmist of Israel, when he wrote this, is probably an
old king. He's had lots of experience.
And he's been shown throughout his life the covenant of grace.
For God said, I will have a king over my people who has a heart
after mine own heart. And who gave him that heart?
God gave him that heart. God the Holy Spirit gave him
that heart. And he's shown him a covenant, and in his dying
words in 2 Samuel 23, David says, this is it, it was an everlasting
covenant that God made with me. Despite all of the sin in me
and my family, and the hurt and turmoil that that has all brought
upon me, nevertheless, I know that there is this everlasting
covenant of grace that is everlasting and certain. and he testified
of God's good dealings with him. He testified how God had ordered
his steps all the way along. He'd been kept in the service
of God, for the purposes of God, despite the sin in his flesh. And oh yes, there was plenty
of that. He wasn't allowed to build the temple in Jerusalem,
though he wanted to, because he was a man who had been, for
the sake of Israel in destroying its enemies, he'd been a man
of blood, God said. He had been a king who had had
many battles with lots of bloodshed and death, but despite sinful
flesh, God had shown him mercy and truth. And why had he shown
him that? All because of the one who is
truly the servant of the Lord. You have dealt well with thy
servant. Who truly is the servant of the Lord? This is what you
must see. Look at Isaiah chapter 52. Let's
look at a verse towards the end of that. Verse 13 of Isaiah chapter
52. where, by the prophet, God says,
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted
and extolled and be very high. As many were astonished at thee,
his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than
the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations,
and the kings shall shut their mouths at him. This is speaking
of Christ. the Son of God to come. This
servant of God truly is the Lord Jesus Christ, is the seed of
the woman that God promised to send in the Garden of Eden. He
promised that of the line of the woman there would be a seed
which would be God himself come to redeem, to make good for the
fall that had been in Eden. He would send his servant, and
his servant is the Messiah, the one who is the servant. Thou
hast dealt well with thy servant. These words, though they are
penned by David, and definitely though they reflect his personal
experience, yet In writing, David was inspired by the Holy Spirit
to speak of Christ. For what did Christ himself,
the Lord Jesus, he said in John 5, 39, speaking of all of the
Old Testament scriptures, he said, these are they which speak
of me. To the disciples in Luke 24,
He, beginning at Moses and the prophets, expounded to them in
all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. He opened
their eyes that they might understand the Scriptures. Understand what?
Understand that Christ is in every one of the Scriptures.
So when we read the words penned by David, Thou hast dealt well
with thy servant David, O Lord, according to thy word, his personal
experience, yet By inspiration, these are the words of Christ.
These are the words of the promised seed, of the Messiah. Thou hast
dealt well with thy servant, that servant of the Lord that
we saw in Isaiah 52 just now. These words, which reflect David's
personal experience, are inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak of
Christ. the Messiah, come to redeem,
to pay the purchase price. Redeem, that's what it means,
to pay the purchase price, with what? With His own precious,
valuable blood. as the federal head. What do
I mean? I mean the representative head,
the senior head, the top head, the federal head of his church. What is his church? It's the
elect multitude that God in love, and only for love, chose in Christ
before the foundation of the world. You say, where do you
get that from? You're making it up. No, it's all according
to the scriptures. Read Ephesians 1 verse 4, just
as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
The salvation, 1 Timothy, no, is it 2 Timothy? 2 Timothy 1
verse 9, the salvation that he gave us before the beginning
of time, before time began. The elect multitude. Why did
he choose them? Were they going to be any better
than anybody else? No, it says it's purely of grace. God in Christ, because of this,
as the federal head of his church, God in Christ lived as a true
man. You see, to save men from their
sins, to pay redemption's price, the law demands the soul that
sins, it shall die. Only God is infinite enough. Only God is good enough. Only
God is perfect enough to be the representative of his people,
of his fallen people. But he must become a man, because
only as a man can he pay the price that his own justice demands. He must become a man. He must
wear the likeness of the sinful flesh of his people, and yet
be as righteous as God. even though clothed in the likeness
of sinful flesh. Why? Because as the Scripture
again tells us, that he, as that man, God in flesh, might be made
sin. Did I say that he would ever
sin, that he did ever sin? I would never say that. That
is blasphemy. The Lord Jesus Christ never committed
any sin, but the Scripture's clear. He made him who knew no
sin to be sin. He made him sin. Which sin? The
sin of his people. Why? Because as a man bearing
the sin of his people, the payment that the justice of God requires,
the redemption that it requires, he can make it in his blood.
When he died on the cross of Calvary, in his death he paid
the price. The law of God is satisfied. The law of God says it is enough. It is finished. He paid that
penalty, that debt to divine justice. Jesus the man. Jesus the man. You know, He was
truly man. He really was. God contracted
to a span, incomprehensibly made man. In verse 59, last week,
we thought on this. He says, I thought on my ways
and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. Jesus the man born of Mary, raised
as a baby, growing up and maturing. He thought on his ways as a man
that he might grow to that state where his hour had come, where
he would pay the penalty for the sins of his people. The Son
of God, who as a man, he's God. In him dwelt the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. Why does he need to pray? Because
as a man he needs to pray to his Father in heaven. As the
servant of God, Isaiah 52 verse 13, as the servant of God, behold
my servant shall deal prudently, wisely. He deals wisely. He's got the wisdom of God. He's
got the wisdom of God. Make you wise unto salvation.
The servant of God, he was commissioned by God the Father to redeem his
people. Go, this is the covenant of grace.
Go, they shook on this. God the Father in love chose.
God the Son, undertook to come as the surety and the substitute
for his people, to redeem in flesh from the curse of the law,
all in accordance with his word. Look in verse 65. Thou hast dealt
well with thy servant according unto thy word. It was always
in accordance with his word. He came and lived as a man. These
words are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, prophetically spoken,
a thousand years before He came. Who can say, we might aspire
to verse 72, we might aspire, if you're a believer, truly seeking
to serve God, you might say, the law of thy mouth, what God's
word has spoken, is better unto me than thousands of gold and
silver, and I would say to you, oh really? Really? Honestly? You're a man, you're
a woman of flesh and blood, of fleshly worldly desires, and
you may believe God and you may seek Him, but you will constantly
fall. Who is it that alone can truly, honestly say, the law
of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver?
Is it not our federal head, if you're a believer? Is it not,
praise God, thank God, that the one who is your saviour is the
one who can say, and you be represented in him, he can say, the law of
thy mouth, O God, is better unto me. This is the man, Christ Jesus,
speaking, as the servant commissioned to redeem his people from the
curse of the law. Who else could say that? None.
So these words are clearly David's words. But above all, they're
Christ's words. And they're penned by David,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a thousand years
or so before he came as a man. He sought as a man, Jesus sought
as a man, good judgment from God. Look at verse 66, teach
me good judgment and knowledge. You would say, he's God, why
does he need to know? As a man, I keep coming back
to it, as a man. He didn't come into this world
as the fully-fledged article, if I can put it without being
irreverent. He came as a baby. He was conceived of the Holy
Ghost. He grew in the womb of Mary. He was born, he grew as
a child, a helpless child to start with. He grew, and he grew
in wisdom and knowledge, and he thought on his ways, and he
prayed to his Father. Why did the man who was God,
in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, why did the man
need to pray to his Father? Because he was a man. come to
save men and women from their sins, His people from their sins.
And so, He prays, teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I
have believed Thy commandments. Good judgment from God. He was
afflicted for his people. Look, you say, ah, come on, he
was afflicted for his people. I was afflicted, I went astray.
You see, he's speaking of that situation of being loaded with
the sins of his people. He was afflicted for his people.
You say, how can you say that? Can you substantiate that? Well,
the scriptures substantiate it. So when we read another one of
David's Psalms, Psalm 69 and verse 5, listen to this prayer
which is undoubtedly the prayer of David, but more so it's the
prayer of Christ. He says, Thou knowest my foolishness,
which means guiltiness. You know my... Sorry? The Son
of God was guilty, was guiltless, without sin, yet without sin.
He says, Thou knowest my guiltiness and my sins. Whose sins? His
sins. How did they become his sins?
Not by commission, but by being made the sins of his people for
the purpose of redemption. My sins are not hid from thee.
There it is again. He was afflicted for those sins.
He was bruised. By His stripes we are healed.
In 2 Corinthians 5.21, I've already quoted bits of it, but He made
Him, God made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us. Why? That His people might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. What do we need to be
right with God? To be as righteous as God. How
are we made the righteousness of God? in Christ. Him having
dealt with the sins of his people, God has justly, justly, he's
just and justifier. He's just in that his law is
not compromised in any respect. but he's still able to declare
just the objects of his love, who are sinners by virtue of
what Christ has done. He who, as Peter says, 1 Peter
2.24, his own self, the man Christ Jesus, his own self, bear our
sins in his own body on the tree, that tree of Calvary's cross.
He bore the sins of his, he who never committed a sin, bore the
sins of his people there. Oh look, do you see what a man
this is? this man who is God. As Pilate
said, when they were taking him to crucify him, Pilate said,
Behold the man. Look, was there ever such a man? Has there ever since been such
a man? No, of course not. In him dwelt the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, but yet there he was. This man, despised and
rejected of men. The man come for the purpose
of redemption. The man who is God, making peace
for his sinful people with their God. He was lied against. You
see, the proud have forged a lie against me, says verse 69. He
was lied against. He was hated, he says, they hated
me without a cause. He was hated without a just cause.
He was despised, Isaiah 53, despised and rejected of men. A man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief. This was what he came to do,
to accomplish the satisfaction of the justice of God. All to
make satisfaction to that offended justice. So that his people,
that multitude that no man can number, That vast number of people,
I looked, says John, Revelation 19 verse 1, much people in heaven. These people, to save them, to
take them there. And there they are, in the revelation
of John, nearly 2,000 years ago, and he looks into heaven outside
of time, and there they are. And if you're one of his sheep,
do you know something? That's why we are seated, as
Paul says, in heavenly places in him. those people that he
represented as substitute and surety, that he might make them
the righteousness of God in him. How will you ever be right with
God and accepted by God except for this man, Jesus, making you
right by the sin debt he paid in his precious blood. You think
of it. You all have a mortal soul. You have a soul that will never
die, but you're in a mortal body that must die. It is appointed
to man to die once, and then the judgment. You must face God
in judgment. You must face God who is holy.
You must face God who is a consuming fire. into whose hands it is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
For God is angry with the wicked every day. There are so many
false evangelists who will tell you God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life. The truth of God's word is that
God is angry with the wicked every day. That's the truth of
God's Word. Angry with the wicked every day.
How will you ever be right with God? How should a man be just
with God, asked Job. How will you ever be right with
God except, listen, listen, this applies to you, it applies to
me. How will you ever be right with God except for this man,
Jesus Christ, making you right with God by the sin debt that
he paid in his precious blood. That precious blood that has
wiped the record clean for the people of God. That precious
blood that was shed for everyone whose names are written by the
grace of God in the Lamb's Book of Life. So that when the books
are opened, there's the books of all of the sins of all humanity
committed. But for those, that multitude
whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, the justice
of God is satisfied in the Son of God. the Son of God, who came
for his people, to pay their sin debt with his precious blood. And here it is, in turning this
jewel over in these few words. But if he's the federal head
of his church, of his body, of his elect, of his bride, these
are all terms that refer to the people of God, the believing
people of God, his church, his body, he is the head of the body,
he's elect. Oh, they don't like that, it
means that God chose some and didn't choose others. Get used
to it. It's what God does, because God is God. He's bride. the bride,
the people betrothed, the wife of Christ betrothed, I saw the
Lamb's wife, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, adorned as
a bride for her husband, his bride. These are his words, they're
David's words, they're the words of Christ, but if he's the federal
head of his church, of his body, they are also the words of all
his people in eternal union with him. Do you believe on the Son
of God? Do you believe that you have
an interest in the redemption that Christ has purchased? Then
to a good degree, these words are yours as well. These words
are yours. Are you a child of God by grace?
by grace, he's called me. When it pleased God, says Paul.
Paul doesn't say in Galatians, the early part of chapter 1,
he doesn't say, I was such a good man, I sought God and I made
a decision for him and ever since he's led me in God. No, he says,
when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, to
reveal his Son in me, in me. Are you a child of God who, like
Paul, has had the Son of God, his redeeming grace revealed
in you? Has he spoken to you? He shows
you that he is true. You must believe that God is.
Not just mental assent, but this awareness that God is here. Has
he spoken to you? Has he given you a sense, like
it says in verse 64, that the earth is full of God's mercy?
Do you have this sense that everything around, your life experience,
is because of the mercy of God? Then can you not agree with verse
65? thou hast dealt well with thy
servant? Are you one who calls himself, herself the servant
of God? Can you not say that God has
dealt well with you as his servant? David testified of God taking
him from shepherding the flock to being king of Israel. Can't
you see all the way, there's a hymn we used to sing, wasn't
there? All the way my savior leads me. What have I to ask
beside? He leads, he's led me all the
way. You look back down the path. Has He guided your steps? Of
course He has. You can see it. Did you do things
that at the time you didn't understand? Of course you did. But you look
back and you can see how He put everything in place for you to
be where you are now, heading where you are now. He's made
all things work together for your eternal good by grace alone. Can you see that? that he has
dealt well with his servant, and all of it, look, according
to thy word. God never deals with his people
outside of his word. He never does. It is always in
accordance with his word. If you get the impression that
God is telling you to do something that doesn't accord with his
word, I can guarantee you it is not God that's telling you.
It is your own sinful heart, or it's a delusion of Satan,
or something like that. No. The Lord has dealt well with
His servant. If you're His servant, by believing,
by His grace that called you, and you believed Him, and you
see the way He's dealt with you, you cannot but say He has dealt
well with you. He's caused all things to work
together for your eternal good. Look at God's good dealings,
briefly. God's good dealings. You know,
thou hast dealt well with thy servant, but, you know, those
good dealings evidently include afflictions. Look at verse 67.
Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy
word. verse 71, it is good for me that
I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. The good
dealings of God with his servants evidently include afflictions.
That's why I had Peter read Hebrews chapter 12 to us, because it's
abundantly about the chastisement of God, the correction of his
people. In this life, while we still
inhabit these bodies of sin, he corrects us. Sometimes, The
experience of it, as it says there in Hebrews, look at it
now, Hebrews chapter 12, in verse 5, it says, haven't you forgotten
the exhortation which speaketh to you as to children? Despise
not the chastening of our Lord. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. It's the
experience of all of his people. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as sons. For what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not? There are lots of children in
this world today with delinquent parents who do not care for them,
who do not chastise them, who do not correct them, who do not
steer them, who do not draw boundaries for them, who do not straighten
their steps so that they grow into mature, responsible people. And he's saying, a responsible
father will do that. Well, God does this for his children.
He says, if you be without chastisement, you're not true sons of God.
He said, we had fathers in the flesh that chastised us, and
we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the father of spirits and live? Verse 11, no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. When
you're going through it, whatever it might be, it might be a bereavement,
it might be a financial loss, it might be some other tragedy
that befalls all types of people. It's not that the people of God,
the servants of God, are immune from this chastisement. In fact,
this passage tells us, it's a very mark, that God is dealing well
with his servants, that he does chastise them. And it isn't pleasant
for the moment, it isn't joyous for the moment, it's grievous.
But afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby. And he encourages us
just to continue and see this affliction from God as being
for our good. You've dealt well with your servants.
Those who are saved were dealt well with. Because why? Because
God is taking us to eternal glory. and He's keeping us on that straight
and narrow way, which leads to life. So often, chastised saints
testify that it wasn't pleasant at the time, but so much for
my eternal good. Oh, at the time I wished God
wouldn't do this. I prayed that He would take it away, but how
much better it was for me. Paul prayed that the thorn in
his flesh would be taken away, but God used it to show him that
my strength is made perfect in your weakness. Maybe things don't
seem to go the way we think best at the time, but time will show
that they are God's purposes and in His purposes. Our times,
whatever they feel like at the time, are in His hands. And whilst
God guides and directs, which He does all the way, yet His
people are not robots, and we need wisdom from heaven. And
I'll just close with this last little bit for a couple of minutes.
There's a prayer there, you see, in verse 66, for good judgment. Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I have believed thy commandments. Teach me good judgment. Isn't
that what we want from God? We want the wisdom of heaven
from God. Teach me, O Lord, the wisdom
that comes from heaven. Look all around and look at the
best wisdom that there is in the world, and if you've got
any sense of the sinfulness of man and the fallenness of this
world, you'll see, especially in these present days, when our
governments throughout the world are behaving with the utmost
irrationality and lack of wisdom and judgment, and seeming to
make out that they are the ones that have all of the sense and
all of the wisdom, but evidently they do not. We need judgment
from God. We need good judgment from God.
We need wisdom from God. God told Solomon he could ask
for whatever he wanted. You could look it up in 1 Kings
3 verses 5 to 11. You can ask whatever you want,
he said to Solomon. And Solomon asked for wisdom.
Solomon asked for good judgment. He said, Lord, teach me good
judgment and knowledge. He asked for good judgment. There
are huge variations in human attributes, in height, in weight,
in intelligence, in wealth, in health. But true wisdom, the
ability to judge as God judges, to see as God sees, it's in God's
gift to bestow that. just in God's gift alone. And
this is what we need above all else. In what respect do we need
good judgment? Well, of course, obviously, we
need good judgment to make wise decisions in life. When we come
to a fork in the roads, which way should we go? Should we go
there? Should we go there? Well, so
often the Word of God guides. So often the unchanging principles
of the Word of God guides. What does the Word of God say?
What saith the Lord? What does the Word of God say?
about what we should be doing and where we should be being
and where we should be going. What does God say? So yes, good
judgment in respect of decisions in life, but more to discern
truth and error. Teach me good judgment and knowledge
to discern truth and error, because these concern eternity. Truth
and error concern the difference between heaven and hell. which
is where everybody's going, either to heaven or to hell. But do
you know where you want to go? Surely to heaven. They teach
the difference between peace with God and enduring the wrath
of God for sin. Give me knowledge is this plea,
give me knowledge of saving grace. I believe your words, gospel
testimony. This book is full of the gospel
testimony of God. Confirm me, is the prayer. Teach
me good judgment and knowledge. Confirm me in the eternal good
of your saving grace. Enable me to rightly test the
spirits. You know 1 John 4 verse 1? Try the spirits, whether they
be of God. Give me wisdom and judgment to discern truth and
error. Enable me to rightly test the
spirits, whether they be of God. to rightly divide the Word of
Truth, because so many people wrongly divide the Word of Truth,
and make a nonsense of it. To have the mind of Christ. You
know, Paul says, and I think we have the mind of Christ. Oh,
that we might have the mind of Christ, that Christ might come
by His Spirit and teach us. Teach me how to think concerning
true doctrine. Not just parrot fashion what
to think, but how to think. Make me sensitive to Satan's
deception because you know Jesus warns us as his people. Teach
me good judgment and knowledge to see when Satan is the one
who is coming as an angel of light. He says he comes as an
angel of light. He doesn't come with his horns
and his tail on show to show us that it's Satan that's trying
to deceive us. He's an angel of light. Give me wisdom. Give
me good judgment. Give me discernment of truth
and error. Charles Spurgeon gave a little
example of this. He said, a man in his congregation
came to him and said, the Lord has told me that he wants me
to preach for you. And Spurgeon said, oh, that's
interesting, because he hasn't told me that he wants you to
preach for me. And until God tells me that he
wants you to preach for me, you're not going to preach for me. We'll
leave things as they are. You see, wisdom to discern whether
it's the error of Satan or not. God gave wisdom to Solomon. His
request pleased the Lord, and God gave wisdom to him. So pray
this prayer, teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I have believed
thy commandments. I seek to base what I think,
the way I act, on the commandments of God. Oh yes, we fail constantly,
but that is my desire, as one who is represented by my federal
head, who fulfilled everything perfectly. So we ask that he might give
his heavenly wisdom, his good judgment to all, all listening
to this, especially the wisdom of God concerning salvation that
is in Christ Jesus. You know what Paul wrote to Timothy?
The Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. That's the wisdom, that's
the good judgment and knowledge above all else. that we pray
for one another, that you might grow in grace and the knowledge
of our God and Saviour. So there again we have it, I
know, fumblingly and turning it over clumsily, but here are
David's words, inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak of Christ
Great David's greater Son, that's who He is, whose words they are,
but also the words, the experience, the requests of His people who
believe in Him, in their eternal union with Him. So may God reveal
Him in you. Amen.